I! 


I 


I 


I 


E.  F.  SKINNER. 

At  the  Age  of  Forty. 


REMINISCENCES 


BY 


EMORY  FISKE   SKINNER 


1908 

VESTAL  PRINTING  COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT  1908 

BY 
EMORY  FISKE  SKINNER 


I  DEDICATE  THESE   REMINISCENCES  TO 

MY  WIFE 

WHO  HAS  BEEN  MY  AFFECTIONATE  COMPANION  FOB 
NEARLY  FIFTY  YEARS 


I  HAVE  DICTATED  THESE  PAGES  TO  HER  AND  SHE  HAS  PUT 

THEM  IN  WRITING,  WITHOUT  COMMENT.    WITHOUT 

HER    ASSISTANCE     I    WOULD    NOT    HAVE 

UNDERTAKEN    TO    WRITE    THEM 


PREFACE 


The  thought  of  writing  these  memoirs  was  suggested 
to  me  by  a  gentleman,  who  was  newspaper  writer,  whom 
I  met  in  Pensacola  several  years  ago.  I  was  having 
a  pleasant  conversation  with  him  in  which  I  related 
some  of  the  incidents  of  my  life,  when  he  said :  "Mr. 
Skinner,  you  ought  to  write  a  book  giving  the  events 
of  your  life;  I  am  sure  it  would  be  very  interesting." 
I  gave  the  suggestion  no  thought  until  after  I  was 
paralyzed.  In  that  condition  I  could  do  little  but  read 
and  talk;  often  I  found  the  time  hang  heavily  upon 
me.  After  some  experimenting  I  found  that  the  dic 
tating  of  these  reminiscences  made  the  time  pass  pleas- 
anter  to  me,  as  it  busied  my  mind. 

Another  reason  for  writing  this  book,  is  that  I  might 
avoid  the  utter  oblivion  which  is  the  condition  of  hu 
manity  in  general,  a  short  time  after  this  life  is  ended, 
and  from  which  man  shrinks  in  his  normal  condition. 

My  life  has  been  more  stirring  and  exciting  than  the 
plain  narrative  herein  related  will  convey  to  the  reader. 

My  conduct  has  been  governed  by  my  own  judgment, 
as  I  have  not  had  an  older  and  wiser  head  to  give  me 
the  benefit  of  advice  when  such  might  have  been  bene 
ficial;  when  it  would  have  been  received  and  followed 

v 


VI  PREFACE 

if  the  proper  course  had  been  suggested  to  me,  as  events 
in  my  life  have  occurred. 

I  have  sometimes  regretted  that  I  did  not  continue 
in  the  profession  of  the  law,  but  circumstances  seemed 
to  force  me  into  a  business  life,  against  my  will. 
Whether  my  success  at  law  would  have  been  more  satis 
factory  to  me  than  my  business  life  has  been,  will  always 
remain  unknown. 

I  trust  this  book  will  be  a  source  of  interest  and  satis 
faction  to  my  descendants  as  it  shows  how  and  where 
I  spent  my  life  and  my  statements  regarding  these 
events. 

EMOBY  FISKE  SKINBTEB. 


TABLE  OF    CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   CHENANGO  VALLEY   OF  EARLY   DAYS. 

As  things  were  in  my  father's  day — When  I  was  ten  years 
old— Grandfather's  purchase— Milking  the  cows 1-7 

CHAPTER  II. 

YOUTHFUL  EXPERIENCES. 

Threshing  the  boy— Edgar  is  bunged— The  slave  girl's  re 
tort — Boys  I  knew — Sherburne  Academy — A  boy's 
fight— Early  gallantry — Leaving  home 8-21 

CHAPTER  III. 

PROM  WASHINGTON   TO  OSHKOSH. 

Inauguration  of  President  Pierce— Out  of  employment— A 
poor  employer— The  Regulator— Becoming  a  mill 
wright—Working  for  Mr.  Comstock;  for  Mr.  Ran 
som—Chicago  in  1855 22-34 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY  DAYS  IN  OSHKOSH. 

Description  of  the  place  and  the  conditions — Burnham, 
Foster  &  Knapp— A  donation  party— Teaching  school 
—Two  friends— Studying  law— A  railroad  accident .  35-47 

CHAPTER  V. 

COLLEGE  AT  MT.   PLEASANT. 

Our  moot  court  and  the  literary  society — Henry  Clay 
Dean— Admission  to  the  bar — A  lively  debate— In 
Iowa  wilds  with  the  deputy  sheriff 48-58 

vii 


X  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

FROM   MEXICO  TO   CALIFORNIA. 

Concluding  with  Mr.  Schreyer— Stevedores  of  Pensacola 
— Southern  Lumbermen's  Association — Pleasure  trip 
to  Mexico— Baron  Ketteler— Pres.  Diaz— Bull  fight- 
Mexico  to  California— Royal  Gorge 227-249 

CHAPTER  XX. 

AVENO   MINE. 

Mr.  Godfrey— Ay  er— Payne— Patent  Medicine— Colum 
bian  Exposition 250-257 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

OUR   NEW   CORPORATION. 

Buying  out  McDavids— Running  a  sawmill 258-260 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

SECURING  GOVERNMENT  APPOINTMENTS  FOR  FRIENDS. 

Mr.  Collier  and  others— Escambia  convention — President 
McKinley— Tallahassee  Convention— St.  Louis  Con 
vention  261-276 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  NEGRO  QUESTION. 

Col.  Tarble's  real  estate  story— Florida  climate— Leisure 
life— The  Negro  in  politics 277-283 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   SUCCESSION   OF  ROOSEVELT. 

McGourin— Cost  of  being  a  Republican 284-288 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

MT.    MORGAN    MINE. 

Another  trip  to  Mexico— Guadalajara— Godfrey's  rascality 
—A.  C.  Payne— Mine  worthless— Suits  to  recover. 289-304 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CHANGE   OF  BASE. 

Paralysis— Nephew  at  Chumuckla  also  paralyzed — Clos 
ing  Florida  affairs— Trip  to  East  Florida— To  Cali 
fornia—Grand  Canyon— Phoenix  305-314 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  XI 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  REAL  ESTATE  AGENT  AND   HIS   SCHEMES. 

Douville— Battle  Creek— Another  fire— Sale  to  Mr.  Saun- 
ders  315-323 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

WESTERN   WONDERLANDS. 

A  tour  of  the  Pacific  Coast— Portland  Exposition— Yellow 
stone  Park— Los  Angeles  home 324-332 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MINING  ROMANCES. 

Mr.  French's  story— Lost  Mines— Austin— Nevada— A 
happy  life 333-342 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

RECAPITULATION. 

My  rules  for  business  conduct— Influence  of  childhood 
training— Father— Mother—  Grandfather—  Golf e . .  343-350 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

IN  CONCLUSION. 

My  religious  convictions— Definition  of  Faith— Prayer— 
The  Clergyman's  responsibility— Deity— Martyrdom 
of  Man..  , 351-358 


REMINISCENCES   OF   EMORY  FISKE   SKINNER. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CHENANGO    VALLEY   OF    EAELY   DAYS. 

South  of  the  Mohawk  River  is  a  beautiful  strip  of 
country  known  as  the  Chenango  Valley.  About  the 
commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century  this  valley  was 
in  a  primeval  condition,  as  far  as  the  work  of  civilized 
man  was  concerned.  It  was  covered  with  a  vigorous 
growth  of  timber,  comprising  every  species  of  tree  in 
digenous  to  the  state.  At  the  close  of  the  revolutionary 
war  it  was  an  unbroken  wilderness. 

The  men  of  that  day  were  like  the  men  of  this,  and 
speculators  schemed  to  obtain  large  tracts  of  land  for 
the  purpose  of  selling  it  at  a  profit  to  the  incoming 
settlers.  These  were  mostly  immigrants  from  the  New 
England  states,  going  west  to  grow  up  with  the  country, 
who  wished  to  obtain  farms  for  themselves;  as  later 
I  have  seen  them  settling  in  the  states  of  Illinois,  Mich 
igan,  Wisconsin,  etc. 

This  valley  is  watered  by  a  stream  known  as  the 
Chenango  River.  As  the  settlers  have  denuded  the 
valley  of  its  timber,  the  stream  has  decreased  in  width 
and  depth,  so  that  now  in  the  drouth  of  the  summer  it 
is  little  more  than  a  large  brook. 

The  early  settlers  of  the  valley  had  but  few  places 
where  they  could  market  their  crops.  The  usual  way 
was  to  haul  such  produce  as  they  had  to  dispose  of,  over 

1 


2  REMINISCENCES 

the  rough,  rugged  and  hilly  roads  to  Albany,  more  than 
a  hundred  miles  distant.  Afterwards  the  Chenango 
Canal  was  built  from  Utica  to  Binghamton,  and  this 
gave  the  farmers  an  outlet  for  their  surplus  produce,  as 
it  connected  with  the  Erie  Canal  and  Hudson  River, 
giving  them  intercourse  with  New  York  City. 

Before  the  canal  was  built  through  Chenango  Valley 
many  efforts  were  made  to  transport  produce  from  there 
by  means  of  covered  flat-boats,  which  were  called  "arks ;" 
these  were  floated  down  the  Chenango  River,  then  down 
the  Susquehanna  River,  while  the  two  streams  were 
swollen  by  freshets,  to  markets  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay. 
These  trips  were  fraught  with  much  danger,  and  often 
resulted  in  the  loss  both  of  the  boat  and  its  cargo.  In 
fact  the  matter  of  transportation  was  a  most  difficult 
one ;  the  canal,  however,  met  well  the  necessities  of  that 
section. 

The  land,  as  I  have  said,  was  covered  with  a  heavy 
growth  of  timber,  consisting  of  beech,  birch,  maple, 
hemlock,  chestnut,  some  pine  and  other  trees  too  numer 
ous  to  mention.  When  I  was  a  boy  the  settlement  of 
the  country  had  been  progressing  for  about  forty  years. 
There  were  two  lakes  or  ponds  in  the  vicinity  of  where 
I  lived,  situated  on  the  tops  of  high  hills;  one  of  them 
known  as  Jackson  Pond  and  the  other  as  Madison  Pond. 
When  I  was  a  lad  we  visited  these  places  for  the  pur 
pose  of  fishing  or  bathing,  in  summer  time,  and  in  the 
winter  to  skate  or  fish  through  the  ice.  The  name 
Madison  Pond  has  recently  been  changed  to  Chenango 
Lake,  and  the  place  has  become  a  summer  resort. 

From  the  hills  east  of  the  village  of  Sherburne,  flows 
a  stream  called  the  Mad  Brook.  About  a  mile  from  the 
village  on  this  stream  there  is  a  waterfall,  at  the  foot  of 


THE  CHENANGO  VALLEY  3 

which  are  a  couple  of  sulphur  springs  flowing  out  of  the 
rocks.  To  my  boyish  fancy  this  waterfall  was  a  grand 
affair,  but  on  my  last  visit  to  the  village  I  found  the 
water  of  the  stream  nearly  exhausted.  On  the  banks 
of  the  falls  was  built  a  summer  hotel,  a  very  pleasant 
resort  for  visitors,  during  the  season. 

In  my  boyhood  days,  it  was  necessary  for  my  father 
to  raise  most  of  the  provisions  which  would  be  used  by 
the  family;  the  wheat,  corn,  rye  and  buckwheat  being 
taken  to  the  mill,  six  miles  distant,  to  be  ground  into 
flour  and  meal.  He  had  sheep  and  cows,  as  well  as 
horses  for  driving,  riding  and  tilling  the  farm;  each 
spring  the  sugar  for  the  ensuing  year  would  be  made 
from  the  sap  of  sugar  maples,  and  in  the  fall  came  the 
killing,  curing  and  packing  of  several  barrels  of  beef 
and  pork.  A  quantity  of  cider  was  also  turned,  for  use 
as  vinegar.  Large  bins  were  filled  with  potatoes,  vege 
tables  and  apples  and  stored  in  the  cellar.  The  hidea 
of  the  cattle  killed,  were  taken  to  the  tannery  to  be  made 
into  leather  for  boots  for  the  family  and  the  wool  went 
to  the  carding  mill  where  it  was  made  into  rolls  and 
spun  into  cloth,  for  the  use  of  home  members.  Every 
fall  a  tailoress  came  to  make  the  children's  clothes  from 
the  cloth  which  had  been  woven.  The  home  of  that  day 
was  a  general  manufactory  for  the  necessities  of  its 
inmates.  The  farmer  needed  to  buy  only  tea,  coffee 
salt  and  the  better  clothes,  for  his  family. 

My  father  and  mother  made  a  trip  to  Connecticut, 
when  I  was  a  small  boy,  with  the  purpose  of  visiting 
some  relatives.  I  remember  they  went  as  far  as  Canas- 
tota  in  a  lumber  wagon.  From  there  they  took  the 
packet  on  the  Erie  Canal  for  New  York  City,  and  from 
thence  by  sailboat  to  East  Haddam,  Connecticut.  It 


4  REMINISCENCES 

was  from  this  same  Colchester  County,  from  a  place 
called  Westchester,  that  my  father  had  emigrated  to 
live  in  Central  New  York.  Previous  to  this  his  eldest 
brother,  Stephen,  had  moved  to  Sherburne,  "N".  Y.,  to 
ply  his  trade  as  carpenter,  there  being  many  houses  to 
be  built  for  the  incoming  settlers.  My  father  joined 
him  in  order  to  learn  and  follow  the  same  trade,  and  it 
was  but  two  years  later  that  my  grandfather  sold  out 
in  Westchester  and  came  to  Sherburne  also.  Shortly 
after  he  bought  a  tract  of  land  for  himself  and  his  sons 
and  it  was  on  a  portion  of  this  land  that  my  father 
lived  most  of  his  life.  At  the  time  of  my  grandfather's 
purchase  the  method  since  adopted  by  the  United  States 
government  for  surveying  wild  lands  was  not  then  in 
vogue.  Lands  were  then  surveyed  in  lots  containing 
two  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  My  grandfather  bought 
two  of  these  lots. 

With  the  hope  of  escaping  fever  and  ague,  then  prev 
alent  in  most  new  countries,  high  ground  was  preferred 
for  the  homes.  It  was  for  this  reason  that  my  grand 
father  selected  some  of  his  lands  on  top  of  a  high  hill. 
In  the  matter  of  laying  out  roads  in  those  days,  the  cus 
tom  seems  to  have  been  to  follow  as  direct  a  course  as 
possible,  up  hill  and  down.  Settlers  did  not  seem  to 
realize  that  it  was  no  farther  around  an  apple  than  over 
it. 

At  the  time  my  grandfather  settled  in  Sherburne,  all 
imports  had  to  be  brought  from  Albany,  a  distance  of 
about  one  hundred  miles,  and  hauled  by  teams  traveling 
through  the  woods,  over  miserable  and  hilly  roads.  I 
remember  hearing  my  father  tell  that  he  walked  from 
his  home  in  Connecticut  to  Sherburne  carrying  his 
broadaxe,  square  and  his  clothing  in  a  bag,  on  his 


THE  OHENANGO  VALLEY  5 

shoulder.  He  stopped  at  taverns  and  settlers'  homes,  as 
he  might  find  them,  for  lodging  and  meals.  It  is  dif 
ficult  for  us  to  realize  the  hardships  to  which  the  early 
settlers  were  subjected.  There  were  only  such  conven 
iences  as  could  be  constructed  on  the  spot  of  the  settle 
ment.  My  father  had  an  advantage  over  many  settlers, 
in  being  a  carpenter,  thus  able  to  plan  and  make  home 
comforts  which  many  could  not  do. 

In  spite  of  the  great  variety  of  trees,  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  their  usefulness  was  limited,  owing  to  the 
lack  of  saw  mills  to  cut  them  into  lumber.  Carpenters' 
tools  at  that  time  were  made  by  the  blacksmith,  as 
were  also  iron  nails ;  cut  nails  were  unknown.  Houses 
were  at  that  time  built  of  small  logs.  The  floors  were 
made  by  splitting  straight  grained  trees  in  the  middle, 
laying  with  the  split  side  up,  then  making  all  as  smooth 
as  possible  with  an  adz.  The  edges  were  made  even 
by  matching  and  straightening.  These  half  logs  were 
called  "puncheons." 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  it  was  necessary  to  go 
some  thirty  miles,  with  the  wheat  of  the  farmer,  to  have 
it  made  into  flour.  There  was  very  little  that  the  settler 
could  raise  for  selling.  The  only  article  he  could  turn 
into  cash  was  potash,  manufactured  from  wood  ashes. 
There  were  no  dentists  in  that  locality.  If  a  tooth 
needed  to  be  extracted,  a  string  was  tied  around  it  with 
which  to  jerk  it  out.  I  have  heard  my  mother  tell  of 
suffering  of  this  kind  which  she  endured,  that  made  my 
heart  ache. 

At  this  time  the  curse  of  the  Indians  had  been  re 
moved  from  this  locality,  though  a  few  years  earlier 
this  district  had  been  the  haunt  of  Leather  Stocking 
and  Indian  tribes  with  which  Fennimore  Cooper  has 


6  REMINISCENCES 

made  us  familiar.  The  condition  of  these  early  days 
in  the  Chenango  Valley  I  repeat  from  family  narrative, 
for  as  far  back  as  I  can  remember,  my  father  had  a 
lucrative  farm,  well  stocked  with  cattle  and  horses,  and 
a  good  farm  house  provided  with  excellent  conveniences 
for  that  period  in  which  we  lived.  He  possessed  good 
horses,  light  wagons,  and  there  were  fairly  good  roads 
for  reaching  town  and  visiting  neighbors. 

As  a  boy  it  was  my  duty  to  have  the  cows  in  the 
milking  yard  by  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  In  the 
summer  time  I  made  these  excursions  in  bare  feet.  I 
had  to  go  about  half  a  mile  for  the  cows,  and  drive  them 
up  to  the  house;  so  it  is  plain  that  I  had  to  get  up 
pretty  early  in  the  morning.  I  recollect  that  sometimes 
I  had  stone  bruises  on  my  feet,  and  these  are  very 
painful  and  unpleasant  things  to  endure,  but  luckily 
boys  are  optimistic  and  make  light  of  such  sufferings. 

I  recollect  hearing  my  father  tell  of  the  manner  in 
which  he  tided  his  stock  over  the  long  hard  winters, 
while  he  was  clearing  off  the  timber  and  getting  his 
farm  ready  for  cultivation.  He  could  raise  no  hay  or 
grain  until  this  was  done,  so  he  was  obliged  to  keep  his 
cattle  alive  by  what  he  called  browsing  them.  This  was 
done  in  the  following  manner.  He  would  go  to  a  piece 
of  woodland  which  he  designed  clearing,  and  would  cut 
down  each  morning,  some  of  the  birch,  beech  and  maple 
trees,  and  the  cattle  would  eat  the  tender  green  twigs 
of  the  young  branches.  This  was  all  that  he  had  to  feed 
them,  that  they  might  give  milk  for  the  children  of  the 
family.  This  was  but  one  of  the  many  hardships  which 
the  early  settler  endured  during  those  early  pioneer 
days  until  he  could  get  part  of  his  land  cleared  so 


THE  CHENANGO  VALLEY 


that  he  might  raise  hay,  grain  and  vegetables  upon  it, 
in  order  to  feed  his  family  and  his  stock. 

I  reckon  people  of  that  day  had  some  "sand"  and 
grit  in  their  characters,  which  provided  them  with  en 
durance  to  meet  such  hardships. 


CHAPTER  II. 

YOUTHFUL,  EXPERIENCES. 

I  was  born  in  July,  1833.  When  I  was  about  ten 
years  old,  my  father  constructed  a  threshing  machine 
of  his  own  invention,  in  the  basement  of  the  barn.  He 
erected  an  upright  wood  shaft,  the  lower  end  of  which 
was  placed  in  a  block  of  wood  buried  in  the  earth.  The 
other  end  was  fastened  to  the  timbers  of  the  barn.  To 
the  upper  end  of  this  shaft  he  attached  a  beveled  wheel 
upon  which  was  fastened  cast  iron  cogs.  Below  this 
he  inserted  a  strong  pole  for  a  sweep,  to  which  a  team 
of  horses  could  be  attached  and  driven  around  the  shaft. 
A  pulley  was  fastened  to  the  pinion  of  this  beveled 
wheel,  from  which  a  belt  ran  to  the  threshing  cylinder 
situated  on  the  floor  of  the  barn.  When  I  was  a  school 
boy,  we  threshed  oats  with  this  machine  on  alternate 
Saturdays,  it  being  the  custom  in  our  district  to  dismiss 
school  every  other  Saturday  for  the  whole  day  instead 
of  the  half  day  usually  allowed  at  the  end  of  the  week. 
When  threshing  we  would  stow  away  in  a  mow  at  the 
side  of  the  barn  floor,  enough  straw  to  supply  the  cattle 
until  the  fortnight  came  again. 

When  playing,  I  often  pushed  the  sweep  of  this  ma 
chine  and  took  keen  delight  in  seeing  how  fast  I  could 
make  the  pulley,  which  ran  the  cylinder,  revolve.  One 
day  I  had  a  visitor,  and  together  we  pushed  the  sweep 
to  see  how  fast  we  could  make  it  turn.  During  our  play 
the  belt  fell  off  and  dropped  between  the  cogs.  This  cut 

8 


YOUTHFUL    EXPERIENCES  9 

it  in  pieces.  I  did  not  emulate  G.  Washington  by  con 
fessing  what  I  had  done ;  instead  I  hung  the  belt  out  of 
sight  where  it  stayed  until  we  were  ready  to  start  again 
the  next  winter.  When  that  occasion  arrived  and  I  was 
ordered  to  make  ready  the  horses,  I  realized  that  trouble 
was  brewing.  My  premonition  proved  correct.  When 
father  discovered  the  condition  of  the  belt,  he  "hol 
lered''  for  me  evidently  knowing  the  guilty  party.  I 
went  onto  the  barn  floor  without  a  word.  Father  took 
a  piece  of  board,  seized  me  with  his  left  hand  and  pad 
dled  me  well  with  his  right.  He  did  not  thresh  oats  that 
day — he  threshed  the  boy. 

I  remember  going  swimming  one  Sunday  in  Gorton's 
mill-pond,  which  was  about  two  miles  from  where  we 
lived.  While  wading  about  I  cut  my  big  toe  nearly  off, 
on  what  I  supposed  was  an  old  axe  in  the  water.  I 
wrapped  my  foot  as  well  as  I  could  and  hurried  home. 
There  I  was  informed  that  I  had  been  hurt  because  I 
was  breaking  the  Sabbath.  I  accepted  the  judgment, 
for  I  knew  no  better  then. 

An  incident  occurs  to  me  in  regard  to  the  fanning 
mill.  It  was  somewhat  like  the  affair  with  the  threshing 
machine,  as  there  was  a  boy  visitor,  this  time  a  little 
nephew,  Edgar  Comstock,  and  like  the  other  occasion 
we  turned  the  crank  as  fast  as  we  could  in  order  to  see 
how  much  noise  it  made.  Edgar  did  not  appear  to  get 
tired,  but  I  finally  told  him  that  he  must  stop.  When 
he  refused  I  went  and  pushed  him  from  the  machine, 
whereupon  he  began  to  cry  and  ran  in  to  complain  to 
his  mother.  I  remained  in  the  barn  for  I  knew  that 
when  I  went  in  there  would  be  trouble  for  Emory.  At 
last  however  hunger  drove  me  in.  Dinner  was  just 
over.  My  father  asked  me  what  I  had  been  doing  to 


10  REMINISCENCES 

Edgar  and  I  replied :  "He  sassed  me  and  I  bunged  him." 
This  expression  clung  to  me  until  I  was  grown  and  had 
left  home.  Whenever  I  had  trouble  with  any  one  I 
would  hear  repeated:  "He  sassed  me  and  I  bunged 
him."  I  was  ever  a  sturdy  fighter. 

We  had  a  field  of  very  good  land,  about  four  acres, 
which  lay  just  south  of  the  house.  I  recall  that  one 
year  on  that  land  we  raised  twelve  hundred  bushels  of 
potatoes.  These  were  mostly  fed  to  the  hogs  and  the 
cattle,  although  we  put  about  a  hundred  bushels  in  the 
cellar  for  winter  use.  The  cellar  was  large  extending 
under  the  whole  house,  probably  30x40  feet  and  it  did 
not  freeze  in  winter. 

Every  spring  we  filled  a  hogshead  with  cakes  of 
maple  sugar ;  three  or  four  hundred  pounds,  as  we  had 
some  two  or  three  hundred  maple  trees.  When  we  gath 
ered  the  sap  I  would  make  a  sled,  put  a  tongue  into  it, 
and  yoke  some  steers  to  draw  the  sled  around,  collecting 
the  sap  and  hauling  it  to  the  kettles,  where  it  was  boiled 
down  into  sugar  or  syrup.  My  father  bought  what  was 
called  "muscovado"  sugar  for  table  use,  in  addition  to 
this  supply  of  maple  sugar  and  syrup.  Every  summer 
we  raised  sufficient  buckwheat  for  the  winter's  supply 
of  griddle  cakes.  As  children  we  considered  them  a 
great  treat  when  eaten  with  maple  syrup. 

We  kept  from  twenty  to  forty  cows,  and  made  large 
quantities  of  butter  and  cheese.  I  remember  the  price 
of  butter  as  being  from  13  to  15  cents  a  pound,  while 
cheese  brought  about  6  cents. 

My  mother,  being  short  of  girls,  pressed  me  early  into 
service.  I  assisted  in  making  butter  and  cheese,  and 
about  the  house.  Eventually  I  became  so  handy  that  I 
could  cook  and  sew  as  well  as  look  after  the  butter  and 


YOUTHFUL    EXPERIENCES  11 

cheese,  and  in  time  could  do  all  things  in  the  domestic 
line  fairly  well. 

My  father  was  somewhat  of  an  Abolitionist  then, 
and  it  made  an  impression  on  me  when  several  of  the 
townsmen  appeared  at  our  house  one  day  and  urged 
father  to  run  for  supervisor  on  the  Abolitionist  ticket. 
After  some  discussion  my  father  consented.  As  a  re 
sult  of  the  election  I  believe  he  received  nine  votes  in  the 
town. 

It  was  my  custom  to  go  every  two  or  three  months 
and  bring  a  cousin  to  our  house  for  a  visit.  A  sister 
of  my  mother's  had  lost  her  husband,  who  had  died 
leaving  his  family  in  poor  circumstances.  Her  daugh 
ter  worked  in  a  cotton  mill  in  New  Berlin.  She  was 
very  glad  to  come  to  us  as  our  place  was  about  the  only 
home  she  had  ever  known.  This  girl  met  with  great 
extremes  of  fortune.  It  came  about  that  she  went  to 
Florida  as  a  woman  overseer  of  girls  in  a  small  cotton 
factory  near  Milton.  She  eventually  married  the  owner 
of  the  mill,  a  man  said  to  be  worth  more  than  a  million 
and  a  half  dollars.  x  A  few  years  later  she  came  north 
and  visited  at  my  father's,  bringing  with  her  a  slave 
girl  as  nurse  for  her  infant  daughter.  My  father  made 
it  most  uncomfortable  for  every  one  concerned  by  insist 
ing  that  the  colored  girl  should  sit  at  the  table  and  eat 
with  the  rest  of  us.  The  nurse,  however,  from  southern 
training  as  to  what  was  proper  behavior,  did  not  dare 
to  eat  at  the  table  with  white  people.  One  day  my 
father  took  the  girl  aside  and  told  her  that  she  need 
not  go  back  into  slavery.  As  she  had  been  brought  into 
a  free  state  by  the  voluntary  act  of  her  owners  she  could 
not  be  forced  to  go  back.  He  offered  to  aid  her  and  send 
her  to  Canada.  Her  response  was:  "Good,  lordy,  Mis- 


12  REMINISCENCES 

tab  Skinner,  I  wouldn't  stay  up  heah  fo'  yo'  whole 
fahm." 

Living  at  a  neighbor's  home  was  a  boy  by  the  name 
of  Charles  Gilfillan,  who  did  chores  for  his  board  while 
attending  district  school.  He  was  a  very  bright  pupil, 
afterwards  attending  the  academy  at  Sherburne,  where 
he  attracted  considerable  attention.  He  experienced  re 
ligion,  was  then  taken  up  by  the  Presbyterian  Society, 
and  sent  to  a  Theological  Seminary  that  he  might  pre 
pare  for  the  ministry.  I  did  not  hear  anything  farther 
concerning  him  for  many  years ;  but  eventually  learned 
that  he  had  forsaken  church  orders  and  had  gone  to 
St.  Paul.  He  was  very  successful  there,  and  visiting 
him  years  after  I  found  him  the  owner  of  the  water 
works  of  that  city  and  worth  half  a  million  dollars. 
One  of  his  brothers,  James  Gilfillan,  also  became  promi 
nent.  He  was  a  lawyer,  and  a  Register  of  the  U.  S. 
Treasury. 

Another  lad  whom  I  knew  then  recurs  to  me  with 
interest.  His  name  was  Ezra  Huntley,  and  he  lived 
most  unhappily  with  his  step-mother.  This  boy  caused 
considerable  excitement,  in  that  quiet  neighborhood  by 
disappearing  suddenly  from  his  home.  A  short  time 
after,  we  heard  that  he  had  gone  to  New  Bedford, 
and  enlisted  on  a  whaling  ship  bound  for  Behring  Sea. 
He  was  gone  two  or  three  years  and  when  he  returned, 
was  received  as  a  hero  by  the  boys. 

My  father's  family  was  quite  large  at  this  time, 
usually  consisting  of  a  dozen  members.  Being  the 
youngest  I  was  naturally  the  butt  of  the  older  brothers 
and  sisters  who  enjoyed  teasing  me  until  I  would  be 
come  angry.  My  Methodist  parents  had  named  me  af 
ter  two  Methodist  bishops  and  in  consequence  I  was 


YOUTHFUL    EXPERIENCES  13 

nicknamed  "Bishop,"  and  many  the  quarrel  which  the 
older  children  provoked  on  this  subject.  Probably  this 
had  its  influence  in  developing  the  good  nature,  for 
which  I  maintain  such  a  high  reputation! 

It  was  customary  for  the  lads  from  the  farms  who 
wished  a  more  extended  education  than  the  district 
school  afforded,  to  attend  the  academies  of  some  of  the 
nearby  towns.  These  schools  corresponded  in  opportun 
ity  to  the  present  high  school.  I  was  possessed  with  an 
ambition  of  this  kind  and  my  father  made  arrange 
ment  for  me  to  board  with  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Whit- 
ford  who  kept  a  grocery  in  this  town.  Near  the  Epis 
copal  Church  in  the  village  of  Sherburne  was  located 
the  two-story  frame  building  known  as  the  Sherburne 
Academy.  I  was  sixteen  years  old  when  I  entered  this 
school  and  my  course  continued  for  two  winters.  The 
more  advanced  pupils  occupied  the  second  story  which 
was  rather  a  large  room.  The  seats  were  made  to  ac 
commodate  two  pupils,  one  end  of  each  seat  being 
against  the  wall  and  the  other  opening  into  the  school 
room.  I  occupied  a  seat  with  Homer  Newton,  both  win 
ters;  he  was  a  very  pleasant  boy  and  an  excellent  scholar. 
I  used  to  envy  him  the  ease  with  which  he  learned 
his  lessons.  Apparently  to  commit  anything  he  had  but 
to  read  it  once. 

Directly  in  front  of  us  sat  two  girls,  one  about  four 
teen  and  the  other  sixteen  years  old.  The  elder  was 
bright,  witty  and  good  natured,  she  lived  in  the  same 
home  with  Homer,  as  she  was  being  educated  by  his 
parents.  I  did  not  see  her  for  many  years  after  we  left 
school,  but  twenty  years  later  I  met  her  accidentally  in 
Michigan.  She  was  married  and  a  mother.  The  other 
girl  was  a  slim  little  miss  of  rare  beauty,  with  brown 


14:  KEMTSTSCKXCBS 

hair,  beautiful  blue  eves  and  rosy  lips.  To  my  boyish 
fancy  she  was  very  fascinating.  I  cannot  say  that  these 
girls  made  me  m:re  studious  but  certainly  they  made 
the  time  pass  mo-:  pleasantly. 

Of  the  boys  anending  school  about  half  were  sons  of 
farmers,  living  in  the  valley.  Between  the  country  lads 
and  the  boys  of  the  village  a  little  friction  became  ap 
parent  which  grad^illy  grew  into  a  marked  division.  As 
was  customary  in  ±>se  days,  the  students  formed  a  de 
bating  society,  of  which  the  lads  from  the  country  be 
came  the  ruling  -pirit  By  permission  of  the  princi 
pal,  we  held  our  nestings  by  candle  light  in  the  school 
room.  One  of  c^r  by-laws  prohibited  the  presence  of 
any  student  not  a  member  of  the  club.  This  proved 
unsatisfactory  to  ^:  nie  of  the  rougher  village  boys.  One 
night  when  we  -*ere  holding  a  debate,  these  disturbers 
broke  into  the  roein-  through  some  pre-arranged  plan  for 
entrance,  giving  -he  club  an  uninvited  and  unwelcome 
audience.  I  had  :«ren  elected  president,  and  on  motion 
I  adjourned  the  meeting.  We  turned  out  the  lights  and 
went  home,  to  the  evident  dissatisfaction  of  the  intrud 
ers.  Time  passei  on  until  one  day  in  March,  when  an 
election  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  choosing  village 
officers.  On  the  evening  of  that  day  the  proper  officers 
met,  in  the  basement  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  to  count 
the  votes  and  determine  who  was  elected.  I  boarded  at 
a  Mr.  Whitford's,  not  far  from  the  church,  and  I 
thought  I  would  go  over  and  see  how  the  election  had 
resulted.  After  satisfying  my  curiosity  on  that  point  I 
started  for  home.  It  was  quite  dark  in  the  church  yard, 
and  three  or  four  boys  followed  me  out  of  the  basement 
of  the  church  and  attacked  me.  Believing  safety  to  be 
the  better  part  of  valor,  I  ran  away. 


YOUTHFUL 


15 


Some  boys  in  certain  ages  are  like  the  male  members 
of  some  quadrupeds.  If  a  stranger  of  their  kind  ap 
pears  among  them  they  are  not  content  until  they  find 
out  which  is  master. 

The  next  forenoon,  at  recess,  I  recognized  one  of  the 
boys  who  had  attacked  me  the  night  before.  He  was 
larger  than  I,  but  I  caught  hold  of  him,  threw  him  down 
and  began  choking  him,  the  other  country  boys  standing 
around  to  see  fair  play.  Hie  bell  rang  for  school,  but 
I  was  too  %usy"  to  pay  proper  attention  to  the  sum 
mons  until  the  head  teacher  appeared  on  the  balcony 
and  ordered  me  to  stop.  Our  fight  was  ended  for  that 
time  by  the  appearance  of  the  principal,  but  this  was 
not  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  other  boy.  He  announced 
that  he  would  have  another  trial  at  the  first  opportunity. 
After  school  that  day  a  large  boy  named  Delos  Luther, 
who  came  from  the  town  of  Pharsalia,  accompanied  me 
to  my  boarding  house.  There  stood  my  enemy  attended 
by  several  of  his  chums,  ready  for  another  encounter. 
He  attacked  me  and  I  grappled  with  him,  while  Luther 
kept  the  other  boys  from  interfering.  I  soon  had  my 
enemy  down,  and  I  pummeled  him  well  until  he  cried 
enough.  This  ended  our  fighting,  although  his  friends 
tried  to  frighten  me  by  saying  that  this  boy's  father  in 
tended  to  have  me  arrested  for  assault  and  battery. 
Sometime  after  I  met  this  gentleman  on  the  street  He 
accosted  me  pleasantly  and  jocosely  remarked  that  I  had 
given  his  son,  Peter,  what  he  should  have  done  himself 
— a  good  threshing. 

Public  travel  in  those  days  was  by  means  of  the  stage 
coach,  or  by  canal-packet,  drawn  by  three  horses,  and 
which  achieved  a  speed  of  perhaps  six  miles  an  hour.  I 
recollect  leaving  home  when  about  sixteen  to  visit  a 


16  REMINISCENCES 

sister  living  at  Lodi  Plains,  south  of  Ann  Arbor,  in  the 
State  of  Michigan.  I  was  taken  to  Utica,  a  distance  of 
about  thirty  miles.  There  I  took  the  railroad  for  Syra 
cuse  and  went  to  Auburn,  next  to  Rochester,  then  on 
to  Buffalo.  At  the  time  six  different  roads  formed  a 
line  between  Albany  and  Buffalo.  Beginning  at  Al 
bany,  the  first  road  ran  to  Schenectady,  the  next  from 
there  to  Utica,  the  third  from  Utica  to  Syracuse,  the 
fourth  from  Syracuse  to  Auburn,  the  fifth  from  Auburn 
to  Rochester  and  the  sixth  from  Rochester  to  Buffalo. 
These  were  afterwards  combined  and  today  form  the 
New  York  Central.  This  consolidation  was  effected  by 
Cornelius  Vanderbilt,  Sr.,  under  charter  from  the 
state. 

From  Buffalo  I  took  passage  in  a  steamer  of  good 
dimensions  to  Detroit.  A  railroad  was  being  built  from 
Detroit  westward  towards  Lake  Michigan,  but  at  the 
time  did  not  extend  far  beyond  Ann  Arbor.  I  recollect 
several  kinds  of  rails  used  on  this  road.  Some  portions 
had  a  flat  rail,  about  two  and  a  half  inches  wide  by 
three-quarter-inch  thick,  laid  on  stringers  of  wood  and 
spiked  down.  The  running  of  cars  over  such  rails 
tended  to  curve  the  ends  upward,  and  to  draw  the  spikes 
from  the  wooden  stringer.  When  the  bend  was  suffi 
cient  to  raise  the  rails  over  the  wheel  it  was  called  a 
snakehead.  It  frequently  happened  that  the  iron  pierced 
the  bottom  of  the  advancing  car,  sometimes  even  wound 
ing  and  killing  passengers.  Other  divisions  of  the  road 
used  rails  of  the  shape  of  the  modern  "T"  rail,  divided 
in  two  parts,  these  bolted  together  to  form  a  continuous 
rail.  Another  kind  in  use  was  the  "I"  pattern,  that  is, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  capital  letter  "I."  Many  were 


YOUTHFUL,    EXPERIENCES  17 

the  experiments  made  in  devising  a  rail  which  would 
be  durable  and  safe. 

I  spent  several  months  in  the  family  of  my  sister. 
In  returning  home  I  left  Michigan  at  Detroit  on  the 
steamer  "Atlantic,"  one  of  the  side-wheelers  on  Lake 
Erie  at  that  time.  On  the  following  trip  this  boat  was 
lost  with  all  on  board  and  nothing  was  ever  heard  of 
her  from  that  day  to  this. 

Reaching  the  age  when  the  youth  becomes  gallant,  I 
invited  the  sister  of  a  boy  friend  to  go  with  me  to  the 
spelling  school.  My  father  let  me  take  a  horse  named 
"Old  Judge,"  and  we  started  away  in  the  cutter  for  a 
good  time.  The  drifts  were  heavy,  and  in  a  certain  bad 
place  the  horse  floundered,  fell  and  broke  one  of  the 
thills  of  the  cutter.  What  a  time  I  had  righting  the  old 
horse,  turning  the  cutter  around,  and  with  a  patched 
thill,  restoring  my  charge  to  her  mother's  arms.  I  ex 
pected  to  be  well  scolded  at  home  for  breaking  the  cut 
ter,  but  to  my  surprise  my  father  did  not  utter  a  word 
of  reproof. 

When  I  was  sixteen  years  old  I  started  into  field 
work,  where  I  took  my  place  in  the  row  as  a  man.  The 
summers  were  devoted  to  putting  in  the  crops,  tilling 
and  harvesting  them.  This  required  steady  work  from 
daylight  till  dark.  There  were  no  ten-hour  rules  in 
those  days.  I  have  heard  my  father  say  that  for  years 
he  worked  sixteen  hours  a  day  in  the  summer  season. 
In  the  winter  people  allowed  themselves  more  time  for 
visiting  and  recreation. 

My  brother,  Zara,  and  myself  were  living  on  the  old 
home  farm  when  I  was  about  sixteen.  We  tried  work 
ing  the  farm  together,  but  we  disagreed  about  many 
things.  There  was  considerable  friction  between  MB 


18  REMINISCENCES 

until  my  brother  decided  to  leave  and  I  was  left  to  run 
the  farm  by  myself.  I  was  the  only  one  of  the  children 
left  at  home  with  my  parents,  my  brothers  and  sisters 
having  married  or  settled  on  places  of  their  own.  The 
responsibility  then  fell  upon  me,  as  my  father  had  re 
tired  from  active  management  some  years  before.  I 
raised  or  bought  all  that  was  necessary  for  the  farm 
or  the  family,  and  sold  what  was  marketable.  It  was 
in  this  experience,  probably,  that  I  gained  early  knowl 
edge  of  business  methods.  There  were  no  neighbors 
within  half  a  mile,  so  I  had  small  opportunity  to  mingle 
with  Others,  neither  did  I  have  time  for  fishing  or  hunt 
ing.  I  recollect  trying  to  shoot  some  squirrels  that 
thronged  the  cherry  trees  with  an  old  shotgun  which 
had  to  be  touched  off  in  the  pan  by  means  of  a  live  coal. 
Of  course,  I  did  not  hit  a  squirrel  very  often.  I  occa 
sionally  shot  a  woodchuck,  but  they  were  very  shy. 
Sometimes  I  borrowed  a  rifle,  intending  to  hunt  on  Sun 
day,  but  my  mother  kept  such  close  watch  on  my  actions 
that  I  found  it  difficult  to  accomplish  my  purpose  with 
out  being  caught  and  censured. 

It  was  while  I  had  charge  of  my  father's  farm  and 
business  that  on  a  certain  Saturday  morning  a  neigh 
bor,  Mr.  Kingsbury,  rode  up  to  my  father's  house.  It 
was  a  sunny  morning  after  a  rainy  spell.  There  was  a 
large  side  hill  in  front  of  the  house  which  had  been 
sowed  to  oats.  These  had  been  harvested  and  stood  in 
shocks.  Mr.  K.,  looking  at  the  hill,  remarked  to  my 
father  that  he  should  have  those  oats  put  in  the  barn. 
My  father  replied  that  such  was  his  wish,  but  that  I 
was  so  contrary  I  wouldn't  do  it.  I  turned  to  him  and 
said :  "Do  you  want  those  oats  put  in  the  barn  ?"  He 
replied  that  he  did.  I  said  that  it  should  be  done  at 


YOUTHFUL    EXPERIENCES  19 

once,  and  immediately  set  two  teams  at  work.  There 
was  a  young  man  among  the  field  hands  who  thought 
he  could  do  more  work  if  he  had  a  little  whiskey  to 
stimulate  him;  so  with  the  knowledge  of  some  of  the 
other  help,  I  went  to  town  and  bought  a  jug  of  whiskey 
and  secreted  it  in  the  barn.  We  worked  most  strenuously 
all  day,  and  partook  rather  liberally  from  the  jug. 
When  it  came  evening,  after  the  cows  had  been  milked, 
it  was  proposed  that  we  go  down  the  river  to  fish.  I 
objected  to  the  teams  being  used,  but  said  that  I  would 
arrange  with  a  neighbor  to  take  us  down.  This  plan 
proved  satisfactory,  and  while  the  man  was  hitching  up 
his  horses  we  boys  lay  on  the  grass  in  the  front  yard. 
We  had  brought  some  of  the  contents  of  the  jug  with 
us  to  fortify  us  in  the  exertions  of  fishing,  and  I  had 
put  a  small  bottle  in  my  pocket.  In  boy  nonsense,  as 
I  lay  there  on  my  back  I  put  this  bottle  to  my  mouth 
and  let  the  entire  contents  run  down  my  throat. 

I  can  remember  little  after  riding  half  a  mile.  After 
that  all  is  oblivion  until  three  o'clock  the  next  morning ; 
the  boys  were  then  having  a  serious  time  to  arouse  me 
sufficiently  to  get  me  home. 

We  succeeded  in  reaching  our  house  without  our  re 
turn  being  known.  We  went  to  sleep  in  the  hay  mow 
of  our  horse  barn  and  were  dead  to  the  world  until 
awakened  by  hearing  my  father  drive  the  cows  out  of 
the  yard  into  the  pasture.  Owing  to  our  absence  he 
and  the  hired  girl  had  been  obliged  to  milk  forty  cows. 

All  that  day  I  felt  very  weak  and  miserable.  For 
tunately  it  was  Sunday,  and  for  once  I  kept  the  day  in 
rest  and  quiet. 

This  escapade,  however,  resulted  in  serious  changes 
in  my  future  life.  My  parents  did  not  learn  the  story 


20  REMINISCENCES 

until  the  following  winter,  when  it  was  carried  to  them 
by  mischief-mongers,  and  the  end  of  the  affair  was  that 
I  left  home,  never  to  return,  except  as  a  visitor.  I  had 
managed  the  business  of  the  farm  for  two  years  with 
excellent  success,  and  I  was  not  afraid  to  face  the  world 
for  myself.  I  had  a  schoolmate  friend  living  in  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.,  who  was  a  clerk  in  a  dry  goods  store.  I 
wrote  to  him,  asking  that  he  find  me  employment.  In 
a  short  time  he  wrote  to  me  to  come  at  once.  An  older 
brother  was  brought  home  to  take  my  place  on  the  farm, 
the  affairs  were  settled,  and  I  turned  my  face  to  new 
fortunes. 

The  days  of  boyhood  and  youth  were  over. 
*          #'#          *          #*#          *          *          # 

Returning  to  this  valley  a  year  or  two  ago,  and  visit 
ing  the  old  village,  I  faced  the  melancholy  fact  that 
the  building  in  which  had  flourished  the  academy  sixty 
years  ago  had  entirely  disappeared,  and  not  a  reminder 
of  it  was  to  be  seen.  The  church  was  still  there,  look 
ing  much  the  same  as  in  former  days.  At  the  rear  of 
the  church,  in  the  little  cemetery,  was  the  grave  of  one 
of  my  grandfathers,  Stephen  Skinner,  who  married 
Mary  Foote,  a  lineal  descendant  of  nine  successive 
Nathaniel  Footes. 

Sherburne,  "loveliest  village  of  the  plain,"  has  also 
changed  since  the  time  of  which  I  have  been  writing. 
The  banks  of  the  canal  have  been  leveled  and  the  easy 
going  packets  have  been  superseded  by  railroad  cars.  A 
beautiful  monument  has  been  erected  to  the  memory 
of  the  soldiers  who  perished  in  the  civil  war;  its  loca 
tion  is  by  the  side  of  the  Congregational  Church,  and 
at  the  intersection  of  the  two  principal  streets  of  the 
village.  Among  the  names  of  the  heroes  chronicled  on 


YOUTHFUL    EXPERIENCES  21 

the  monument  are  several  of  those  related  to  me,  and 
with  whom  I  passed  my  childhood.  A  bank  has  been 
established  and  a  few  houses  of  a  better  and  more  mod 
ern  style  of  architecture  have  been  built.  But  most  of 
the  people  whom  I  knew  have  gone  to  "that  bourne  from 
whence  no  traveler  returns,"  and  I  realize  that  in  a  few 
years  I  shall  follow  them. 

The  village  itself,  however,  is  the  same  placid  home 
of  a  contented  people,  practically  undisturbed  by  the 
ambitions  or  avarice  of  the  outside  world. 


GHAPTEK  III. 

FROM    WASHINGTON    TO    OSHKOSH. 

I  was  greatly  impressed  with  the  public  buildings  of 
the  city  of  Washington,  and  enjoyed  my  surroundings 
very  much.  To  my  untrained  eye  the  architecture  ap 
peared  very  imposing.  The  Washington  monument 
was  then  in  process  of  erection,  having  reached  a 
height  of  about  a  hundred  feet,  only  a  fifth  of  its  pres 
ent  elevation.  Wings  were  being  added  to  the  Capitol 
building,  but  so  far  only  the  basements  of  these  had 
been  completed.  But  of  all  the  excellent  opportunities 
for  interest  and  instruction  no  building  afforded  me  so 
much  attraction  as  the  Patent  office.  I  never  tired  of 
examining  the  contents  stored  within  these  walls. 

In  March  of  the  following  year  I  had  the  pleasure 
of  witnessing  the  parade  incident  to  the  inauguration 
of  President  Pierce.  In  the  procession  Mr.  Fillmore, 
the  retiring  president,  was  the  usual  guest,  and  rode  in 
the  same  carriage  with  Mr.  Pierce.  I  was  within  twenty 
feet  of  the  incoming  president  when  he  delivered  his 
inaugural  address.  This  was  delivered  from  a  platform 
erected  for  the  occasion  over  the  front  steps  of  the  cen 
tral  building  of  the  Capitol.  The  speaker  was  sur 
rounded  by  the  dignitaries  of  state,  and  the  ambassa 
dors,  which  added  to  the  impressiveness  of  the  occasion. 
There  was  a  marked  absence  of  gold  lace,  decorations 
and  badges,  which  are  so  noticeable  in  a  similar  scene 
today.  Judge  Taney  administered  the  oath  of  office. 

22 


FKOM  WASHINGTON  TO  OSHKOSH         23 

Mr.  Fillmore,  who  sat  in  a  chair  beside  the  speaker, 
would  smile  appreciatively  whenever  some  emphatic 
passage  was  uttered.  The  entire  affair  was  dignified, 
impressive  and  grand,  and  I  shall  never  forget  it 

As  time  went  on  I  found  the  climate  of  Washington 
to  be  very  trying  to  my  New  England  blood.  The  sum 
mers  were  exceedingly  sultry,  and  the  long  hot  days 
had  a  bad  effect  upon  me.  One  wilting  day  I  went  to 
the  second  or  third  floor  of  the  store  building  and  lay 
down  on  a  pile  of  cotton  goods.  The  proprietor,  proba 
bly  missing  me,  came  and  woke  me  with  a  sharp  repri 
mand  and  the  next  day  I  was  discharged.  This  was  a 
hard  blow  to  my  sense  of  justice,  because  I  had  tried 
to  be  attentive  to  my  duties  and  in  every  way  to  do  the 
best  I  could. 

To  find  oneself  in  a  strange  city,  a  long  way  from 
home,  without  employment,  and  with  very  little  money, 
is  a  strain  upon  the  stoutest  heart.  I  met  help,  how 
ever,  a  second  time  from  my  friend,  Moses  Kinne.  He 
secured  another  situation  for  me  in  a  short  time,  in  a 
store  combining  dry  goods  and  shoes.  It  was  situated 
at  Seventh  Street,  about  a  mile  north  of  Pennsylvania 
Avenue.  I  have  been  in  the  same  locality  several  times 
in  late  years,  but  find  nothing  to  remind  me  of  the  old 
store,  which  had  been  located  under  Dorsey's  hotel. 
This  section  of  the  city  was  known  as  "The  Northern 
Liberties,"  for  what  reason  I  never  learned. 

Near  the  store  was  a  fire  engine  house.  The  engine 
was  a  double-decker  with  the  formidable  name, 
"Northern  Liberties."  The  department  was  manned  by 
volunteers,  who  served  without  pay.  I  was  awakened 
one  night  by  loud  clanging  of  the  fire  bells.  I  hurried 
out  of  bed  and  into  my  clothes  and  ran  to  the  engine 


24  REMINISCENCES 

house,  arriving  in  advance  of  the  company.  A  few  of 
us  manned  the  ropes,  and  hauling  the  engine  out  of  the 
house,  started  for  the  fire.  I  was  much  excited  and 
seemed  to  fly  rather  than  run,  as  the  men  rushed  the 
engine  at  a  tremendous  rate  of  speed.  And  thus  I  wit 
nessed  my  first  fire,  although,  having  seen  some  vast 
conflagrations  since,  as  I  now  recollect  the  fire  of  that 
night,  it  did  not  amount  to  much. 

In  our  business  life  my  new  employer  gave  his  clerks 
to  understand  that  they  must  not  let  a  customer  leave 
the  store  without  buying  something.  If  we  did  he  would 
demand  of  us  an  explanation.  Also  we  were  instructed 
to  ask  more  for  each  article  than  we  expected  to  get,  but 
the  buyer  also  knew  that  he  did  not  have  to  pay  the 
price  first  asked  for  the  goods,  but  worst  of  all,  we  were 
not  expected  to  be  truthful  in  our  statements.  In  a 
great  many  ways  this  trade  was  very  distasteful  to  me, 
so  after  a  time,  I  made  up  my  mind  that  if  I  had  to  lie, 
I  would  lie  for  my  own  benefit  rather  than  another 
man's.  I  -resigned  my  position  in  the  store  and  re 
turned  to  the  State  of  New  York. 

First  I  spent  some  time  in  visiting  my  sister,  who 
lived  in  the  town  of  Sherburne,  on  a  stream  called 
Handsome  Brook.  I  went  next  to  Painted  Post,  where 
my  brother,  LaFayette,  lived.  He  was  running  a  saw 
mill  some  distance  below  Painted  Post.  Under  his  in 
structions  I  began  running  the  boiler  and  engine.  It 
was  my  first  experience  with  steam,  and  I  found  it  very 
interesting.  But  I  was  not  to  be  here  long.  My  brother 
received  a  letter  from  a  man  in  Corning,  by  the  name 
of  K.  E.  Kobinson.  He  styled  himself  "The  Kegula- 
tor,"  and  stated  that  he  expected  to  build  a  planing  mill 
and  start  a  sash,  blind  and  door  factory  on  a  large  scale. 


FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  OSHKOSH         25 

He  added  that  my  brother  had  been  recommended  to 
him  as  a  competent  man  to  have  charge  of  the  under 
taking.  I  urged  my  brother  to  give  up  his  present  con 
tract  and  accept  the  position  offered.  Eventually  he 
did  so,  and  together  we  went  to  Corning. 

Mr.  Robinson  owned  a  large  cracker  factory,  which 
occupied  the  ground  floor.  He  proposed  to  put  in  the 
sash  and  door  machinery  over  the  bakery  and  to  add  the 
planing  mill  at  one  side.  My  brother  was  an  expert 
mechanic  and  understood  his  business  thoroughly. 
When  the  machinery  had  been  put  in  position  my 
brother  put  me  at  work  on  first  one  machine  and  then 
another  until  I  could  operate  all  the  machines  in  the 
factory.  As  far  as  we  two  were  concerned,  everything 
seemed  propitious,  when  suddenly  one  night  we  were 
awakened  by  an  alarm  of  fire.  Going  to  see  what  it 
was,  for  the  flames  lighted  up  the  whole  heavens,  we 
discovered  the  planing  mill,  the  factory  and  bakery  in 
one  grand  conflagration — and  my  brother  and  I  out  of 
a  job. 

The  "Regulator"  commenced  rebuilding  his  factory 
at  once,  but  owing  to  some  dissatisfaction  on  the  part  of 
my  brother,  we  concluded  to  leave  Corning  and  go  to 
Ann  Arbor,  Mich.  Arriving  there,  we  found  employ 
ment  with  an  old  acquaintance  of  LaFayette's,  a  fore 
man  in  the  erection  of  a  large  paper  mill  at  Geddes- 
burg,  on  the  Huron  River,  between  Ann  Arbor  and 
Ypsilanti.  I  worked  on  this  mill  for  something  over  a 
year.  Charles  W.  Vail  had  a  wide  reputation  for  his 
skill,  it  being  held  that  he  was  able  to  erect  the  best 
mill  frame  of  any  one  in  the  State  of  Michigan.  The 
one  built  while  we  were  with  him  was  the  best  I  have 
ever  seen  before  or  since.  It  was  made  from  white 


26  BEMINISCENCES 

oak  timber,  hewn  from  the  log ;  the  basement  story  was 
framed  from  14  in.  square  timber,  and  so  thick  and  mas 
sive  that  when  it  was  finished  it  was  impossible  to  see 
through  when  looking  from  one  corner  of  the  building 
to  another. 

The  foundation  was  made  by  bedding  heavy  timbers 
in  the  river  channel  and  covering  them  with  four-inch 
planks.  Upon  this  foundation  the  mill  was  erected. 
The  building  was  sided  up  and  finished  with  white 
wood,  and  presented  a  fine  appearance  when  completed. 
I  found  Mr.  Vail  to  be  very  intelligent,  a  good  talker 
and  singer ;  altogether  a  very  interesting  man.  After  I 
had  been  working  a  short  time  at  framing  Mr.  Vail 
made  me  his  personal  assistant.  I  was  called  upon  to 
help  him  whenever  he  took  his  measurements,  or  other 
occasions  where  he  needed  aid.  This  was  very  instruc 
tive  to  me,  and  I  fully  appreciated  the  friendliness 
which  this  employer  showed  me.  All  the  timbers  used 
for  the  mill  were  first  hauled  to  a  level  piece  of  ground 
several  hundred  feet  from  the  mill  site  and  framed  for 
erection.  When  the  time  came  to  raise  the  frame  of 
the  mill  Mr.  Vail  put  me  in  charge  of  the  work  of  mov 
ing  all  this  timber  from  where  it  lay  on  the  ground  over 
to  the  mill  site.  When  a  certain  piece  would  be  wanted 
he  would  give  me  the  number  of  it,  and  I  would  see  that 
it  was  placed  where  it  was  needed.  These  timbers  were 
moved  on  rollers  and  I  was  given  the  superintendence 
of  such  men  as  were  necessary  for  the  purpose.  I  think 
I  was  engaged  only  about  a  month  in  this  service,  but 
by  this  time  I  had  become  so  expert  that  I  could  frame 
as  well  and  as  quickly  as  any  man  on  the  job.  I  was 
about  twenty  years  old  at  this  time,  and  had  been  in 
this  employment  about  six  months. 


FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  OSHKOSH         27 

Before  the  building  was  quite  finished  Robert  Ailes, 
the  millwright,  came  to  oversee  the  putting  in  of  the 
machinery.  I  asked  if  I  might  work  with  him  and  learn 
the  millwright's  trade.  I  received  a  warm  recommen 
dation  from  Mr.  Vail,  and  Ailes  took  me  into  his  em 
ploy. 

It  was  his  method  to  work  three  men  in  a  gang,  and 
to  put  one  of  the  three  in  charge  of  the  work  entrusted 
to  them.  This  was  before  the  days  of  turned  shafting 
and  bored  pulleys  and  gears.  The  shafting  was  six- 
sided  cast  iron,  and  the  eyes  of  the  pulleys  and  gears 
the  same  shape,  and  these  were  fitted  to  the  shafts  by 
iron  wedges.  It  required  very,  very  skillful  workman 
ship  to  fit  these  keys  or  wedges  with  a  cold  chisel  and 
file  so  that  they  were  true  upon  the  shaft.  After  a  time 
I  became  skillful  in  this  line,  and  after  some  six  months' 
practice  I  gave  up  working  as  a  "jour."  After  that, 
during  many  years  of  labor  as  a  millwright  I  served  as 
a  "boss."  Mr.  Ailes  eventually  gave  me  some  of  the 
most  difficult  work  to  be  done  on  the  mill,  for  he  had 
confidence  in  my  ability  to  do  whatever  task  he  set  me 
to  accomplish. 

At  length  the  machines  came  and  were  set  in  place, 
and  the  mill  started,  in  the  making  of  printing-paper 
from  rags.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Barnes  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  paper  making.  He  came  from  one  of  the 
New  England  states  and  was  experienced  in  this  busi 
ness.  He  was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence, 
and  being  well  disposed  towards  me,  often  gave  me 
friendly  advice.  One  day  he  asked  if  it  were  true  that 
I  was  about  to  marry  a  certain  young  lady,  and  I  ac 
knowledged  the  possibility.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
a  wealthy  farmer  and  mill  owner,  who  was  also  a 


28  EEMINISCENCES 

member  of  the  Michigan  Legislature.  This  man  was 
of  small  stature  and  had  married  a  wife  smaller  than 
himself.  They  had  two  children,  the  young  lady  in 
question  and  a  boy,  both  very  small.  Mr.  Barnes  asked 
if  I  had  considered  the  size  my  children  would  probably 
be,  should  I  marry  one  so  under-sized.  He  dwelt  upon 
the  duty  a  man  owes  to  his  descendants  to  give  them 
good  proportions,  good  mental  powers  and  bodily  vigor ; 
he  said  that  an  intelligent  man  should  exercise  at  least 
as  much  judgment  in  behalf  of  his  own  children  as  he 
would  for  the  lower  animals  he  might  raise.  I  had  never 
before  thought  on  this  subject,  but  his  conversation  led 
me  to  its  careful  consideration,  with  the  result  that  I 
severed  my  connection  with  the  young  lady  as  soon  as 
I  could  honorably  do  so. 

My  brother,  before  going  back  to  New  York  state, 
had  introduced  me  to  a  man  by  the  name  of  Comstock. 
He  was  a  connection  of  the  family,  by  marriage,  his 
brother  being  the  husband  of  my  eldest  sister.  Mr. 
Comstock  lived  about  six  miles  south  of  Ypsilanti.  After 
the  paper  mill  had  been  completed  I  went  out  to  visit 
him.  While  there  I  contracted  to  run  a  little  sawmill, 
which  he  owned.  It  was  a  water  mill  and  the  dam 
holding  the  water,  that  operated  the  machinery,  was 
made  of  clay.  Minks  or  rats  or  other  rodents  were  very 
destructive,  digging  through  such  dams,  and  the  water 
running  into  such  holes,  in  time  so  increased  the  size 
of  the  fissure  as  to  permit  all  the  water  in  the  dam  to 
run  out,  unless  the  hole  was  discovered  early  and 
plugged  up.  Annoyances  of  this  nature  occasionally 
suspended  other  work.  As  I  recollect,  this  mill  had  but 
one  saw  and  I  operated  it  without  any  helper. 

In  this  portion  of  the  state  of  Michigan  the  soil  was 


FROM    WASHINGTON    TO    OSHKOSII  29 

very  rich,  being  a  deep,  black  muck,  extending  over  a 
large  section  of  the  country.  It  was  covered  with  the 
finest  hardwood  timber  I  have  ever  seen.  This  timber 
was  all  cut  and  burned  by  settlers,  that  they  might  se 
cure  clearings  to  cultivate.  I  am  certain  that  I  saw 
land  there  that  would  cut  twenty  thousand  feet  of  white 
oak  to  the  acre,  and  I  estimate  that  this  timber  would 
be  worth  today  from  $1,000  to  $1,500  per  acre. 

Mr.  Comstock  owned  quite  a  quantity  of  whitewood 
timber,  the  logs  were,  some  of  them,  five  or  six  feet  in 
diameter  and  as  free  from  defects  and  knots  as  a  cake 
of  tallow,  and  they  were  of  about  the  same  color  as 
tallow. 

While  running  the  sawmill  for  Mr.  Comstock  I  con 
tracted  with  him  to  erect  a  horse  barn.  1  sawed  out  the 
materials  in  the  mill  and  made  a  draft  myself  for  the 
frame.  I  then  laid  out  the  timbers  for  framing  by  the 
system  known  as  the  square  rule.  Up  to  this  time  two 
methods  were  used  in  laying  out  the  timbers.  One  was 
called,  I  believe,  the  fit  and  try;  by  this  system  the 
pieces  were  put  together  on  supports,  side  by  side,  and 
the  measurement  of  one  made  the  measure  for  the  rest. 
This  method  was  used  by  persons  untrained  in  the  use 
of  figures.  The  other  way  consisted  in  finding  all 
lengths  by  means  of  a  ten-foot  pole,  and  the  system  was 
called  square  rule. 

I  was  obliged  to  plane  by  hand  all  the  lumber  in 
tended  for  covering  the  barn,  and  for  door  and  window 
frames,  etc.  It  was  my  first  experience  in  erecting  a 
building.  I  made  some  mistakes,  but  none  were  serious. 
One  may  conclude  that  it  was  very  substantial  for  a 
horse  barn,  from  the  fact  that  the  frame  was  made  of 
ten-inch  square  timbers,  of  oak.  The  covering  was  of 


30  BEMINISCENCES 

whitewood;  after  the  building  was  completed  it  was 
painted  white,  and  presented  a  fine  appearance.  Mr. 
Comstock  was  much  pleased  with  the  result. 

It  was  while  this  barn  was  in  process  of  construction 
that  I  took  a  vacation  and  made  a  trip  back  to  New 
York  state  to  visit  my  parents  and  former  home.  I 
spent  a  few  weeks  there,  then  returned  to  Michigan  and 
completed  the  barn.  My  brother,  LaFayette,  came  west 
with  me.  Mr.  Comstock  and  he  went  out  into  the  vicin 
ity  of  Newaygo,  Mich.,  and  bought  some  school  lands. 

About  this  time  my  youngest  sister,  with  her  hus 
band,  came  to  see  me.  They  were  passing  through 
Michigan  on  their  way  to  Wisconsin.  It  seems  that 
my  sister  had  made  an  agreement  with  her  husband, 
that  she  would  consent  to  his  selling  his  farm  in  Sher- 
burne  and  go  with  him  to  Wisconsin,  on  condition  that 
when  settled  he  would  erect  a  sash,  door  and  blind  fac 
tory  and  take  me  in  as  partner.  He  was  to  allow  me  a 
one-third  interest.  They  wished  me  to  go  with  them  to 
Wisconsin  at  once,  but  my  contracts  with  Mr.  Comstock 
would  not  permit,  and  it  was  arranged  that  I  should 
follow  them  some  weeks  later.  But  in  this  matter 
events  took  a  turn.  After  completing  my  engagement 
with  Mr.  Comstock  I  started  on  my  journey  to  Wiscon 
sin.  I  proceeded  as  far  as  Kalamazoo,  and  stopping 
there,  visited  my  cousin,  Edward  Phetteplace,  son  of 
my  mother's  sister,  Submit.  In  the  years  gone  by  he 
had  lived  in  Sherburne  and  had  attended  the  academy 
there.  When  a  young  man,  attracted  by  the  stories  of 
western  adventure,  he  had  gone  overland  to  California. 
On  this  trip  he  was  elected  the  captain  of  the  company 
with  which  he  was  traveling.  When  he  returned  to 
Sherburne  he  was  regarded  as  an  "Argonaut"  of  untold 


FEOM  WASHINGTON  TO  OSHKOSH         31 

wealth.  How  much  he  really  possessed  he  had  wit 
enough  to  conceal,  nevertheless  he  bought  the  old  Kala- 
mazoo  House  Hotel  and  rebuilt  it  with  brick.  During 
this  visit  these  relatives  used  every  persuasion  to  have 
me  remain  in  Kalamazoo  until  my  sister  and  husband 
should  return  from  Wisconsin,  their  purpose  being  to 
induce  them  to  settle  here,  instead  of  going  to  Wiscon 
sin.  I  did  not  remain  idle  long  .  I  had  my  kit  of  tools 
with  me  and  soon  found  employment  in  repairing  a 
flour  mill,  situated  near  the  railroad  depot  of  the  town. 
While  I  remained  on  this  undertaking  I  worked  alone. 
When  I  had  finished  this  task,  the  head  millwright 
(I  forget  his  name)  put  me  in  as  assistant  to  a  man 
engaged  to  erect  a  smut-mill  some  miles  distant.  This 
fellow  proved  to  be  a  carpenter,  rather  than  a  mill 
wright  and  did  not  properly  understand  the  business 
required.  He  wasted  two  or  three  days,  accomplishing 
little  or  nothing.  He  became  disheartened  and  made  up 
his  mind  that  he  could  not  succeed  in  his  attempt.  I  let 
him  try  until  he  was  thoroughly  discouraged,  then  I  told 
him  that  if  he  would  let  me  take  charge,  and  would  do 
as  I  told  him,  that  we  could  put  up  the  machinery.  To 
this  he  gladly  consented.  The  very  first  day  I  had  the 
elevators  laid  out  through  five  stories,  and  the  machin 
ery  in  position.  The  boss  mill-wright  was  very  much 
pleased  with  my  success,  and  wanted  to  know  if  I 
would  take  charge  of  some  work  for  a  Mr.  Hansom, 
brother  of  the  governor  of  the  state  of  Michigan.  He 
owned  a  mill  which  was  to  have  the  old  machinery  taken 
down  and  out,  and  new  machinery  made  and  erected 
in  its  place.  This  was  entirely  new  work  for  me,  but  I 
felt  I  would  be  equal  to  the  occasion  and  would  learn 
a  new  kind  of  work  much  in  demand  at  that  time 


32  REMINISCENCES 

throughout  all  the  northwest.  There  were  six  mill 
wrights  who  were  to  work  under  my  direction;  some 
of  them  had  had  ten  or  twelve  years'  experience  on  flour 
ing  mills.  I  took  great  pride  and  pleasure  in  this  piece 
of  work.  The  plans  were  all  draughted  out  and  fur 
nished  me,  and  the  work  ran  splendidly.  I  took  some  of 
the  most  difficult  parts  of  the  work  to  do  myself,  doing 
much  with  my  own  hands;  especially  the  bolt  chest. 
The  hoss  mill-wright  came  occasionally  to  see  how  I 
was  getting  along.  On  one  occasion  he  directed  me 
to  cut  the  bearings  in  the  bridge  trees  of  the  bolt  chest, 
a  certain  size.  I  objected  for  the  reason  that  the  jour 
nals  would  not  fit  the  bearings  because  they  would  not 
all  be  turned  one  size.  He  stated  that  he  would  have 
the  journals  turned  to  the  size  named.  So  under  protest  I 
cut  them  as  he  required.  All  this  time  there  was  trouble 
brewing  between  this  boss  mill-wright  and  the  men  under 
my  control;  gradually  one  after  another  left,  stating 
their  grievances  to  me.  I  was  feeling  dissatisfied  with 
the  outlook  when  my  sister  and  her  husband  arrived 
from  Wisconsin.  They  assured  me  that  everything  was 
working  well  in  their  affairs  at  Oshkosh,  and  they  again 
urged  me  to  go  there.  One  day  I  discovered  a  young 
fellow  at  work  recutting  the  bearings  in  the  bolt  chest, 
he  was  the  one  who  had  assisted  me  when  I  was  erecting 
the  smut-mill.  I  went  at  once  to  the  boss  mill-wright 
and  resigned  my  position.  He  asked  the  cause  and  I 
told  him  that  I  thought  it  time  for  me  to  leave,  when 
another  man  had  to  do  my  work  over.  He  remon 
strated  with  me,  saying  that  it  was  a  mistake,  that  I 
might  do  the  work,  but  I  did  not  like  him  anyway  so  I 
insisted  that  an  order  be  given  me  for  my  wages.  I 
then  went  to  Kalamazoo  and  presented  the  order  to 


FitOM    WASHINGTON    TO    OSHKOSH  33 

Mr.  Ransom,  who  asked  me  what  the  trouble  was,  say 
ing  that  he  would  give  me  charge  of  everything  if  I 
would  go  back  and  complete  the  work.  I  thanked  him 
for  his  confidence  in  my  skill,  but  declined  his  offer  as 
I  was  anxious  to  go  to  Wisconsin. 

I  was  taken  ill,  a  short  time  after  this,  a  most  dis 
tressing  pain  attacking  my  back  and  head.  A  doctor 
was  called  and  I  was  told  that  I  had  fever  and  ague. 
I  suffered  tremendously,  and  sickness  being  a  new  ex 
perience  I  did  not  bear  it  with  patience.  During  this 
time  my  cousin's  wife  served  as  my  nurse,  and  I  was 
given  a  course  of  the  usual  remedies ;  these  proved  help 
ful,  and  I  recovered  from  the  attack  in  two  or  three 
weeks,  when  I  proceeded  on  the  journey  west. 

The  railroad  was  completed  at  that  time  to  Lake 
Michigan,  to  a  place  called  New  Buffalo,  if  I  remember 
correctly.  There  I  took  a  steamer  for  Chicago.  We 
arrived  in  the  morning,  going  ashore  near  the  place  of 
the  present  steamboat  landing.  This  was  in  the  fall 
of  the  year  1855.  Chicago  was  at  the  time  a  rambling 
city,  built  mostly  of  wooden  houses.  It  had  a  popula 
tion  of  about  sixty  thousand.  I  took  a  bus  for  the 
Garden  City  Hotel ;  such  it  was  called  in  that  day.  It 
was  located  on  Market  Street,  between  Washington  and 
Madison  Streets.  It  recurs  to  me  as  a  two  story  building 
of  wood,  having  a  veranda  at  the  east  side.  I  found 
it  a  very  fair  hotel,  although  the  immediate  neighbor 
hood  was  not  built  up.  There  must  have  been  a  rainy 
spell  before  I  arrived,  as  I  have  an  impression  of  streets 
that  were  very  bad  and  unsightly.  There  were  no 
paved  streets  that  I  recollect.  Most  of  the  streets  were 
laid  with  three  inch  plank  in  the  center,  and  in  many 
places  these  were  pressed  down  under  the  mud.  The 


34  BEMINISCENCES 

more  important  buildings  were  being  raised,  six  or 
eight  feet  by  means  of  jack  screws.  It  was  tiresome 
work  traveling  over  the  side  walks  as  they  were  uneven 
and  on  many  different  levels.  The  indications  were 
few  that  this  was  to  be  a  great  metropolis.  Two  or 
three  railroads  were  projected,  of  which  the  Chicago 
and  Galena  was  the  most  prominent. 

I  stayed  in  the  city  but  a  day  or  two,  then  took  a 
steamer  for  Milwaukee  and  Sheboygan.  At  the  latter 
place  I  took  a  stage  coach  for  Fond  du  Lac.  The  fol 
lowing  morning  I  boarded  a  steamer  for  Oshkosh,  which 
for  some  time  had  been  the  goal  of  my  ambitions.  I 
think  that  the  name  of  the  steamer  was  Peytona,  but 
am  not  certain.  It  was  a  fine  boat  for  those  days,  and 
it  was  well  loaded  with  home  seekers,  coming  to  settle 
up  the  new  state  of  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

EARLY  DAYS   IN  OSHKOSH. 

The  principal  street  in  Oshkosh  was  then  called 
Ferry  Street.  It  was  later  changed  to  Main  Street. 
From  the  lower  end  of  this  thoroughfare  a  floating 
bridge  crossed  to  "Brooklyn,"  a  place  on  the  south  side 
of  Fox  River.  This  bridge  was  made  of  square  timbers 
lying  side  by  side  and  fastened  together.  These  were 
planked  over  crosswise  and  a  platform  was  raised  at 
one  side  to  be  used  by  foot  passengers.  Near  the  center 
a  section  some  sixty  feet  wide  was  cut  out,  one  end  of 
which  was  held  to  the  main  bridge  by  a  heavy  iron 
coupling.  When  a  steamer  or  raft  of  logs  desired  to 
pass,  one  end  of  this  draw  as  it  was  called  was  loosened 
and  the  current  would  float  it  down  the  river ;  the  other 
end  being  fast  by  the  couplings.  When  it  was  desired 
to  close  the  draw,  it  was  done  by  means  of  a  chain,  one 
end  of  which  was  attached  to  the  main  bridge,  and  the 
other  to  a  windlass  on  the  draw.  The  ends  of  the  main 
bridge  were  held  by  piers  at  each  end  of  the  draw. 
These  piers  were  made  by  a  caisson,  composed  of  tim 
ber  pinned  together  and  filled  with  stone,  then  sunk  on 
the  bed  of  the  river.  When  the  draw  was  to  be  closed, 
the  windlass  was  turned  with  a  crank,  which  wound  up 
the  chain,  and  brought  the  draw  again  into  place,  thus 
making  a  continuous  passage  for  teams  and  foot  pas 
sengers. 

The  streets  of  Oshkosh  were  about  as  Nature  had 

35 


36  REMINISCENCES 

made  them.  Ferry  Street  and  others  near  the  river 
were  very  muddy  and  sticky  in  rainy  weather.  Most 
of  the  stores  were  on  Ferry  Street  between  Algoma 
Street  and  the  river.  They  consisted  of  structures  one 
and  two  stories  high.  Just  east  of  the  bridge  on  the 
river,  was  a  sawmill;  said  to  have  been  equipped  with 
the  first  circular  saw,  for  cutting  logs,  in  the  state  of 
Wisconsin.  The  owner  was  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Swartz.  The  most  pretentious  building  in  Oshkosh  was 
Mark's  Hall.  It  was  three  stories  in  height,  and  was 
located  at  the  corner  of  Ferry  and  C'eape  Streets ;  it  con 
tained  an  audience  room  for  public  meetings,  lectures, 
etc.  Farther  up  the  street,  near  the  corner  of  Church, 
was  a  large  wooden  building  in  the  shape  of  a  Maltese 
cross,  occupied  as  a  meeting  house  by  the  Congrega 
tional  Church,  the  pastor  at  that  time  being  the  Rev. 
H.  G.  Freeman.  He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  William 
H.  Marble,  an  eloquent  and  brilliant  clergyman,  very 
popular  at  that  time.  Between  the  Hall  and  the  Church 
was  the  Winnebago  Hotel.  A  cheap  two  story  struc 
ture  used  as  a  courthouse  and  jail,  occupied  the  pres 
ent  site  of  the  county  buildings.  The  street  running 
northwest  from  Ferry  Street  was  called  Algoma.  Upon 
this  numerous  houses  were  built  as  far  as  Jackson 
Street. 

There  were  several  sawmills  on  the  north  side  of  the 
river.  The  section  of  country  between  High  Street  and 
the  river,  was  mostly  swamp,  where  grew  flags  and  bul 
rushes.  It  was  generally  covered  with  water.  It  was 
at  that  time  being  filled  in  with  slabs  and  sawdust  as 
fast  as  the  mills  could  furnish  the  material. 

Communication  with  Neenah,  Menasha,  Appleton 
and  Green  Bay  was  by  boat.  On  the  south  side  of  the 


EARLY    DAYS    IN    OSHKOSH  37 

river  were  two  sawmills,  one  owned  by  Mr.  Hubbard 
and  the  other  by  Reed  Bros.  Some  two  miles  up  the 
river,  at  Algoma,  was  another  sawmill  owned  by  Mr. 
Philetus  Sawyer,  who  many  years  later  became  U.  S. 
senator  for  the  state  of  Wisconsin. 

Northwest  of  Oshkosh  was  a  tract  called  Bald  Prairie 
while  south  and  west  of  the  city,  the  land  was  what  is 
known  as  oak  openings.  These  burr  oaks  reminded  me 
of  the  apple  trees  which  I  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
in  the  state  of  New  York,  only  these  were  much  larger 
than  the  latter. 

A  Mr.  Jackson  was  at  that  time  mayor  of  the  city. 
He  was  a  genial  gentleman,  quite  popular  with  the  citi 
zens.  I  remember  him  very  well. 

On  the  present  site  of  Hotel  Athearn  was  situated  a 
two  story  building,  known  as  Gill's  Hall,  the  upper 
story  of  which  was  used  as  a  school-room,  the  teacher 
being  Mr.  Henry  J.  Raymond.  It  was  also  used  for 
lectures  and  concerts. 

Mr.  Greorge  Knapp,  owned  a  farm  about  five  miles 
west  from  Oshkosh.  I  remained  with  him  while  wait 
ing  for  my  sister  and  husband  to  return  from  the  east 
Perhaps  it  had  rained  before  I  reached  Oshkosh,  but  I 
do  know  that  about  the  time  I  arrived  at  the  farm,  it 
began  to  rain,  and  it  kept  at  it  for  weeks.  The  roads 
became  heavy  and  the  mud  very  deep.  It  was  almost 
impossible  to  drive  to  town,  and  I  thought  it  the  rainiest, 
muddiest  country  I  had  ever  seen.  I  became  quite 
blue  as  I  awaited  the  arrival  of  my  sister  and  her  hus 
band.  They  had  shipped  their  household  goods  to  Buf 
falo  by  canal,  and  then  driven  with  light  conveyance 
across  the  country  from  Sherburne  to  Buffalo,  where 
they  took  a  steamboat  around  the  lakes  to  Sheboygan. 


38  KEMINISCENCES 

From  there  they  drove  to  Fond  du  Lac  and  thence  to 
Oshkosh,  over  the  Lake  Shore  road  between  the  two 
towns. 

This  road  to  Oshkosh  at  that  time  might  be  described 
as  bottomless.,  the  mud  was  black  and  deep.  At  that 
time  every  building  in  the  city  in  which  a  family  could 
live,  was  occupied.  My  sister  and  family  stayed  a  few 
days  with  Mr.  W.  A.  Knapp,  a  cousin  of  my  brother-in- 
law,  Mr.  Andrew  B.  Knapp.  Shortly  afterwards,  the 
latter  obtained  possession  of  a  part  of  a  house  which  his 
father  owned,  and  which  was  leased  to  a  Mr.  Ellsworth 
who  kindly  offered  to  share  the  premises  with  them. 
Their  household  goods  were  delayed  somewhere  by  the 
freezing  of  the  lakes,  and  the  children  slept  on  mat 
tresses  on  the  floor,  for  there  were  no  bedsteads.  During 
that  winter  we  lived  in  a  very  cramped  condition  but 
were  as  well  off  as  the  majority  of  people  in  the  city,  for 
no  one  "put  on  style,"  in  that  new  country. 

The  sash,  door  and  blind  factory  was  not  started  that 
winter.  The  weather  was  very  cold,  and  I  found  work 
at  my  trade,  in  the  construction  of  a  flouring  mill,  being 
built  where  the  Wakefield  mill  now  stands.  I  had  not 
recovered  from  the  fever  and  ague  experience  of  Kala- 
mazoo.  I  had  a  form  of  the  disease  known  as  "dumb" 
ague;  that  is  I  had  the  fever  each  alternate  day,  but  no 
shakes  preceded  the  fever.  I  was  very  depressed  and 
stupid ;  quinine  had  ceased  to  relieve  me,  and  I  was  able 
to  find  relief  only  in  taking  arsenic  in  small  doses. 

At  this  time  two  men,  Nicholas  R.  Burnham  and 
Luther  Foster,  owned  and  operated  a  muley  sawmill, 
and  they  induced  my  brother-in-law,  Andrew  Knapp,  to 
buy  an  interest.  The  company  then  decided  to  build 
another  mill  adjoining  the  first  It  was  to  be  a  gang  mill 


EARLY   DAYS   IN    O8HKOSH  39 

and  much  larger  than  the  old  one.  The  oak  for  the  new 
mill  was  found  north,  towards  Neenah.  It  was  hewn 
and  drawn  to  the  site  of  the  mill,  which  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  to  the  north  side.  The  mill  was 
built  on  piles,  these  being  driven  into  the  low  and 
swampy  earth,  by  the  pile  driver,  after  a  hole  had  been 
cut  in  the  ice. 

The  new  firm  was  styled  Burnham,  Foster  & 
Knapp.  To  it  belongs  the  credit  of  building  the  first 
gang  mill  in  the  state  of  Wisconsin.  Luther  Foster 
planned  the  mill.  He  was  one  of  the  firm  and  claimed 
to  have  had  large  experience  with  gang  mills  in  the 
state  of  Maine.  A  millwright  drew  the  plans  and 
superintended  the  erection  of  the  mill.  A  Mr.  Stearns 
who  was  a  good  mechanic,  was  employed  to  build  an 
engine  for  the  gang  mill.  He  had  a  machine  shop  on 
Ceape  Street,  where  afterwards  stood  the  John  Morse 
machine  shop.  If  I  recollect  correctly  the  cylinder  was 
to  be  twenty  inches  in  diameter  with  thirty-inch  stroke. 
At  that  time  no  facilities  existed  in  the  state  of  Wis 
consin,  north  of  Milwaukee,  for  the  building  of  an 
engine  of  that  size.  Mr.  Stearns  had  to  make  the  plans 
for  the  engine  as  well  as  the  patterns.  He  lost  one  or 
two  castings  for  the  cylinder,  not  having  conveniences 
for  pouring  so  large  a  quantity  of  molten  iron.  The 
weather  during  the  winter  was  dry  and  cold.  There 
were  one  hundred  consecutive  days,  when  the  ice  and 
snow  in  Ferry  Street  did  not  melt  under  the  rays  of  the 
sun.  There  were  twenty  consecutive  mornings  that  win 
ter  when  the  mercury  stood  twenty  or  more  degrees  be 
low  zero,  yet  at  no  time  was  the  snow  more  than  six 
inches  deep.  There  were  four  months  of  sleighing  and 
a  steady  clear  cold  all  the  time.  The  people  had  their 


40  REMINISCENCES 

amusements  and  enjoyments,  and  altogether  seemed 
very  happy  and  prosperous.  I  remember  a  donation 
party  which  was  held  in  Gill's  Hall  for  the  benefit  of 
the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church.  At  that  party 
I  met  a  fair  young  girl,  scarcely  fourteen  years  old, 
but  who  was  destined,  some  four  and  a  half  years 
later  to  become  my  wife. 

During  the  spring  I  completed  my  work  in  the  flour 
ing  mill,  and  commenced  putting  in  the  machinery  of 
the  gang  mill.  In  the  early  summer  Mr.  Stearns  com 
pleted  the  engine  and  it  was  erected  on  piling,  driven 
into  the  ground  for  a  foundation.  Around  this  large 
quantities  of  stone  were  imbedded  in  the  mud,  to  hold 
it  steady.  .Upon  the  piles  were  bolted  heavy  timbers 
which  were  wedged  and  dove-tailed  together,  and  upon 
these  was  placed  the  iron  frame  of  the  engine  bed.  De 
spite  Mr.  Foster's  efforts  to  make  the  engine  firm,  it 
was  never  steady  in  its  position.  The  engine  was  belted 
to  a  line  shaft,  which  ran  the  whole  length  of  the  mill, 
and  was  to  drive  all  the  machinery.  The  muley  saw  in 
the  old  mill  was  transferred  to  the  new  mill,  and  a  cir 
cular  saw  added  (a  new  invention  at  that  time)  which 
would  take  a  cant  six  inches  thick  and  from  twelve 
to  twenty  feet  long  and  take  off  a  board,  coming  and 
going,  one-half  or  one  inch  thick,  as  might  be  desired. 
I  have  seen  this  machine  drop  as  many  as  twenty-four 
boards  in  a  minute.  I  have  known  but  a  few  machines 
of  this  kind  worked ;  for  some  reason  they  did  not  be 
come  popular  as  I  had  expected. 

About  the  middle  of  the  summer  of  1857  the  new 
mill  was  sufficiently  completed  to  put  out  flooring, 
fencing  and  scantling  in  large  quantities.  The  firm 
then  bought  five  million  feet  of  logs  from  Andrews  & 


EAKLY    DAYS    IN    OSHKOSH  41 

Haight.  These  logs  were  very  dissappointing.  By  fall 
I  became  convinced  that  Mr.  Haight,  Mr.  Burnham  and 
others  were  conspiring  to  swindle  the  firm  of  Burnham, 
Foster  &  Knapp,  by  inducing  them  to  purchase  very 
poor  logs  at  a  very  high  price,  with  a  view  of  other 
parties  getting  control  of  the  mill.  I  went  to  my 
brother-in-law,  who  was  an  unsuspicious  and  confiding 
man  and  informed  him  of  my  fears ;  he  advised  me  to 
attend  my  own  affairs.  As  far  as  he  was  concerned  I 
would  have  done  so,  but  I  felt  it  a  duty  to  protect  my 
sister's  interests,  so  explained  my  views  and  also  rea 
sons  for  the  same  to  her  then  left  it  to  her  to  do  as  she 
saw  fit.  About  a  week  after  I  informed  her  my  brother- 
in-law  shut  down  the  mill.  Then  came  the  solving  of 
their  tangled  affairs,  which  resulted  in  both  Burnham 
and  Foster  leaving  the  concern. 

I  decided  to  teach  school  that  fall,  and  accepted  an 
engagement  in  the  district  where  George  Knapp  re 
sided.  I  was  employed  there  for  a  term  of  three  or  four 
months,  I  believe.  This  was  my  first  experience  in 
school  teaching,  and  five  years  had  passed  since  I  at 
tended  the  academy  at  Sherburne.  I  however  felt  my 
self  competent  to  teach  in  all  branches  unless  perhaps 
grammar,  but  I  taught  with  much  success,  not  only 
that,  but  all  other  branches  studied  in  the  school.  I 
had  a  few  young  lady  pupils,  and  boys  only  a  few 
years  younger  than  myself,  also  children  so  young 
that  I  taught  them  their  letters.  I  boarded  with  George 
Knapp  and  went  home  at  noon  for  luncheon.  I  remem 
ber  that  one  day  his  wife  asked  me  to  go  out  and  call 
her  husband  to  dinner.  He  was  digging  a  well  with 
the  aid  of  a  hired  man.  The  soil  was  very  clayey,  and 
they  were  down  about  twenty  feet.  When  I  bade  him 


42  REMINISCENCES 

come  in,  George  told  the  helper  that  they  would  first 
take  the  tools  out  of  the  well,  as  he  had  heard  of  in 
stances  where  the  openings  filled  with  water  while  the 
diggers  were  away.  We  went  in  to  dinner,  and  I  re 
turned  to  the  school.  In  the  evening  when  I  reached 
home,  I  learned  that  Mr.  Knapp  had  proved  wise  in  his 
caution.  When  he  had  returned  to  the  well,  he  had  found 
it  full  of  water,  running  over  the  top  into  the  creek  not 
far  distant. 

A  short  time  after  I  commenced  teaching,  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  a  Mr.  Cooley  and  his  family.  They 
lived  about  two  miles  east  of  the  schoolhouse  on  the 
road  towards  Oshkosh.  There  were  three  young  ladies 
in  the  household,  a  younger  sister  of  his  wife  and  two 
grown  up  daughters.  During  that  winter  I  spent  many 
pleasant  evenings  there. 

The  "openings,"  and  prairies,  in  early  times  were 
covered  with  native  or  wild  grass.  When  this  had  once 
been  ploughed  under,  it  never  grew  again.  I  remember 
Mr.  Cooley's  claim  that  herd's  grass  and  clover  would 
grow  luxuriantly  when  sown,  and  would  solve  the  prob 
lem  of  pasturage  for  this  country.  He  had  fine  fields  of 
these  to  exhibit  as  evidence  of  the  truth  of  his  theory. 
It  has  since  been  proved  that  no  better  country  can  be 
found  for  the  growth  of  these  grasses. 

Spring  arrived,  the  school  closed  and  I  went  to  Osh 
kosh  to  live.  My  brother-in-law  and  his  father  had 
gained  possession  of  the  mill,  and  they  engaged  me  to 
take  control,  and  erect  the  two  gangs  which  had  not  yet 
been  set  up.  One  cool  morning  I  was  down  at  the  mill, 
looking  over  what  was  to  be  done,  when  a  middle-aged 
stranger  appeared,  and  said  that  he  intended  buying 
such  a  mill.  He  asked  me  to  take  him  to  the  owners, 


EAIILY   DAYS    IN    OSHKOSH  43 

which  I  did.  The  result  of  the  negotiation  was  that  the 
Knapps  sold  him  a  one-half  interest  in  the  property,  and 
a  new  firm  was  organized  under  the  firm  name  of  A.  B. 
Knapp  &  Co.,  the  "Co."  being  Mr.  James  Jenkins,  the 
gentleman  above  referred  to.  During  the  spring  I  com 
pleted  the  construction  of  the  mill  as  designed,  and 
employed  Carlton  Foster,  a  millwright  who  had  worked 
with  me  on  a  flouring  mill,  to  put  in  machinery,  in  the 
basement  for  sawing  lath. 

Some  of  the  land  in  Winnebago  County  was  still  sub 
ject  to  entry  at  $1.25  per  acre.  The  choicest  of  the 
land  had  already  been  taken  and  some  of  the  farming 
land  close  to  the  city  of  Oshkosh  became  quite  valuable. 

During  the  summer  we  were  troubled  with  too  much 
rain.  This  raised  the  water  in  the  river  and  lake  so 
that  it  came  over  the  foundations  of  the  mill,  and  up  to 
the  pulleys  and  belts,  which  drove  the  gangs  and  circu 
lars.  This  made  me  endless  trouble.  I  made  water 
tight  boxes  to  put  under  pulleys  for  the  belts  and  pul 
leys  to  run  in.  This  worked  all  right  unless  some  care 
less  workman  let  a  block  slip  under  the  pulley,  which 
would  cause  a  leak  and  let  the  water  in;  this  would 
result  in  shutting  down  the  gang  until  the  box  could  be 
taken  out  and  repaired.  At  one  time  the  water  became 
so  high  that  one  of  the  gangs  became  unmanageable, 
the  wrist  becoming  so  hot  that  it  melted  everything  in 
contact  with  it.  I  tried  my  best  to  make  it  work,  but 
gave  up.  Others  in  the  mill,  who  were  expert  in  such 
work,  tried  their  skill  but  none  succeeded.  It  was  a 
mystery  to  all  what  caused  the  trouble.  I  took  the  time 
one  Sunday  to  fit  a  new  cast  iron  shell  into  the  piston 
strap  as  perfectly  as  I  could ;  this  I  ran  with  "Babbitt" 
to  the  crank  pin  and  fitted  everything  in  good  shape. 


4A  EEMINISCENCES 

I  completed  my  task  about  one  o'clock  in  the  night.  I 
was  very  tired  and  lay  down  in  the  sawdust  and  slept 
the  sleep  of  the  just  until  Monday  morning.  We  began 
sawing  logs  at  six  A.  M.  and  worked  till  seven  P.  M. 
there  were  no  eight  hour  day  limits  at  that  time.  I 
put  the  belt  on  this  gang  in  the  morning  and  it  ran  cool 
and  nice,  never  bothering  afterwards  that  I  am  aware. 

We  had  in  the  mill  then,  in  the  shape  of  sawing 
machinery,  the  muley  mill,  the  reversible  circular  saw, 
a  gang  for  slabbing  logs,  and  a  live  gang  for  sawing 
the  log  after  being  slabbed.  Our  average  cut  was  about 
60,000  feet  of  lumber  per  day.  I  worked  very  hard, 
often  night  as  well  as  day  until  the  occupation  became 
irksome.  I  had  charge  now  of  the  entire  business  in 
side  the  mill,  that  is,  overseeing  the  men,  running  the 
machinery,  piling  of  lumber,  etc.  All  this  made  life 
strenuous.  Mr.  Jenkins  proved  to  be  a  clever,  active 
man  of  business,  and  he  was  given  charge  of  the  prin 
cipal  transactions  of  the  company.  There  were  not 
many  railroads  in  Wisconsin  at  that  time,  the  only  one 
in  this1  section  being  from  Fond  du  Lac  to  Horicon. 
This  had  been  built  in  order  to  transport  lumber  into 
the  prairie  districts  of  the  state.  The  lumber  manu 
factured  in  Oshkosh  for  out-put,  was  hauled  into  the 
country  by  teams  or  transported  on  barges  to  Fond  du 
Lac  and  shipped  from  there  south  on  this  short  line  of 
railroad.  Daily  steamers  ran  between  Oshkosh  and 
Green  Bay;  they  were  stern  wheel  steamers  of  good 
dimensions.  A  good  steamboat  also  plied  between  Green 
Bay  and  Buffalo. 

About  the  year  1851,  James  Rouse,  second  husband 
of  my  sister  Exania,  sold  his  farm  at  Lodi  Plains, 
about  ten  miles  south  of  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  and  went 


EAELY   DAYS    IN    OSHKOSH  45 

to  Minnesota,  intending  to  enter  claim  on  government 
lands  for  himself  and  family.  He  took  a  steamer  from 
Galena,  Illinois,  and  went  to  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  and 
from  there  to  St.  Anthony  Falls,  ten  miles  distant  on 
the  Mississippi  River.  The  country  west  of  the  river 
was  entirely  unsettled  then,  and  open  to  entry.  Instead 
of  making  his  selection  on  the  site  where  stands  the 
present  city  of  Minneapolis  he  went  some  twelve  miles 
further  west,  to  Eden  Prairie  and  made  his  entries 
there.  A  year  later  on  a  trip  up  the  river  he  was  at 
tacked  by  cholera,  which  was  prevalent  on  the  Missis 
sippi  that  summer,  and  died.  His  family  made  little 
success  with  this  venture  of  his,  although  they  lived  in 
that  country  for  a  number  of  years.  In  the  fall  of 
1856,  Uncle  Bostwick,  as  he  was  called,  took  occasion 
to  reprimand  me  for  something  I  had  done,  or  had  not 
done,  most  unjustly  I  thought,  and  it  made  me  very 
angry.  I  expressed  my  resentment  in  no  unstinted 
terms  and  then  and  there  resigned  my  position.  My 
brother-in-law  remonstrated  with  me  and  tried  to  per 
suade  me  to  return  and  resume  work ;  he  endeavored  to 
excuse  his  father  and  the  latter  even  apologized  for  what 
he  had  said.  Mr.  Jenkins  also  urged  me  to  reconsider, 
but  all  influences  failed  to  alter  my  decision  and  a  Mr. 
Tim  Crane  was  employed  to  take  my  place. 

Once  foot-loose,  I  decided  to  go  to  New  York  state 
for  another  visit.  I  took  the  steamer  for  Green  Bay,  an 
other  from  there  to  Buffalo  where  I  took  the  train  for 
Utica,  going  by  stage-coach  from  there  to  Sherburne. 
I  visited  my  parents  and  among  friends.  My  youngest 
sister,  Mrs.  Knapp,  came  east  on  a  visit  and  when  it 
came  time  to  return  to  Oshkosh  she  accompanied  me. 
On  the  trip  we  went  through  Kalamazoo,  Michigan. 


46  REMINISCENCES 

On  reaching  Oshkosh  I  engaged  to  put  in  new 
machinery  in  a  mill  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Ira  Griffin.  It 
was  a  sash  mill,  with  two  upright  saws,  designed  to 
cut  two  boards  at  a  time.  I  remember  that  I  succeeded 
in  this  very  well. 

During  my  residence  in  Oshkosh  I  made  numerous 
acquaintances,  among  others,  with  a  Byron  Sherry  and 
Ebenezer  James,  who  proved  most  companionable  as  we 
held  common  views  on  such  subjects  as  philosophy,  re 
ligion  and  politics.  A  deep  friendship  grew  out  of  the 
relation.  One  day  in  passing  me  Sherry  slipped  a  bit 
of  paper  into  my  hand ;  it  contained  the  following  lines : 

"Friendship  is  a  name  to  few  confined ; 
'Tis  the  offspring  of  a  generous  mind. 
With  genial  warmth  it  fills  the  breast 
'Tis  better  felt  than  e'er  expressed." 

We  three  were  in  a  similar  business  condition.  The 
foundry  belonging  to  Sherry  had  been  burned.  James 
had  become  a  bankrupt  through  a  small  sawmill  venture, 
and  I  was  practically  out  of  work.  Sherry  and  I  were 
ambitious  to  become  lawyers  and  later  we  were  able  to 
put  this  purpose  to  the  touch.  How  well  I  remember 
these  young  men !  Two  years  ago  I  went  back  to  Osh 
kosh  and  found  James  living  there  still.  Sherry  was 
living  in  Kansas  City  the  last  I  heard  of  him.  He  had 
been  very  fine  looking  when  a  youth  and  was  a  great 
favorite  with  the  girls. 

My  plan  to  study  law  had  been  intercepted  by  an 
other  visit  east.  When  I  returned  to  Oshkosh  later, 
my  mother  accompanied  me.  She  came  to  see  her  chil 
dren  who  were  living  in  Wisconsin. 


EABLY   DAYS   IN    OSHKOSH  47 

In  the  year  1857  the  Northwestern  Railroad  was  com 
pleted  from  Fond  du  Lac  to  Oshkosh  and  it  offered  the 
citizens  of  the  section  an  excursion  over  the  road.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  select  the  guests,  and  I  was 
among  the  fortunate,  or  as  it  turned  out,  unfortunate 
ones  who  accepted  the  invitation.  My  brother-in-law 
was  unable  to  go,  so  I  took  my  sister  with  me.  The 
train  consisted  of  some  eight  or  ten  coaches  when  we  left 
Oshkosh  and  other  cars  filled  with  excursionists  were 
added  at  Fond  du  Lac  and  other  towns.  It  was  a  very 
happy  crowd,  composed  of  the  representative  people  of 
this  new  country.  A  short  distance  below  Watertown  an 
ox,  with  the  usual  stupidity  of  that  animal,  jumped  on 
the  track  ahead  of  the  locomotive  and  ran  between  the 
rails  until  coming  to  a  small  bridge  it  fell  through  be 
tween  the  ties.  The  locomotive  ran  into  it  and  was  de 
railed,  as  were  also  the  baggage  car  and  the  smoker.  The 
train  was  a  heavy  one  consisting  of  fifteen  coaches.  A 
car  in  the  middle  of  the  train  was  telescoped.  Some  fif 
teen  persons  were  killed  or  died  of  their  injuries,  as  a 
result  of  this  accident.  The  principal  sufferers  were 
passengers  from  Oshkosh.  My  sister  was  badly  injured 
in  the  back.  A  Mr.  Philetus  Sawyer,  who  was  very  bald 
sustained  some  severe  scalp  wounds.  He  presented  a  hor 
rible  sight  when,  all  covered  with  blood,  he  pulled  him 
self  out  of  the  wreck.  He  was  not  seriously  injured 
however.  Thus  our  pleasure  trip  ended  in  sorrow.  The 
railroad  company  returned  us  to  our  stations  as  best 
they  could  and  our  arrival  was  a  scene  of  mourning  and 
lamentations,  exceedingly  affecting.  It  was  a  long  time 
before  my  sister  recovered. 


CHAPTER  V. 

COLLEGE  AT  MT.  PLEASANT. 

The  next  winter  I  taught  school  in  the  town  of  Black 
Wolf,  where  my  brother  lived.  When  my  school  ended 
in  the  spring,  I  decided  to  go  to  Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa,  and 
enter  college  there.  Prior  to  this  time  I  had  taken  a 
mortgage  on  a  saw  mill  at  Omro  to  secure  the  money 
that  I  had  loaned  my  brother-in-law.  Before  leaving 
Iowa  I  placed  the  mortgage  in  the  hands  of  a  young 
attorney  for  foreclosure.  I  remember  that  I  had  quite 
a  problem  to  solve  as  to  how  I  should  reach  Mt.  Pleas 
ant.  Traveling  facilities  in  the  west  at  that  time  were 
extremely  limited.  I  eventually  went  to  Watertown, 
Wisconsin,  by  rail  and  from  there  also  by  rail  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  on  the  Mississippi,  where  I  took  a  steamer  to 
Galena,  Illinois,  and  from  there  another  steamer  to 
Burlington,  Iowa.  In  paying  my  fare  to  the  clerk  of 
this  boat  I  received  in  change  twenty  dollars  in  worth 
less,  counterfeit  money,  which  fact  I  did  not  discover 
until  I  landed  in  Burlington  and  the  boat  had  gone  on 
down  the  river.  People  now  know  little  about  this  wild 
cat  or  worthless  money,  but  at  that  time  all  persons 
handling  much  currency,  sustained  greater  or  less  loss 
from  these  bills  through  bank  failure,  counterfeits  and 
discount.  No  bank  statements  were  issued  to  the  pub 
lic,  and  the  soundness  of  a  bank  was  indicated  only 
by  the  rate  of  discount  demanded.  Each  state  had  its 
own  laws  for  the  establishment  of  banks  and  the  issuing 

48 


COLLEGE    AT    MT.    PLEASANT  49 

of  paper  money,  secured  mostly  by  the  depositing  of 
other  worthless  paper.  The  bank  bills  of  one  state 
would  not  circulate  in  another  except  at  a  discount,  A 
formidable  document  of  protection,  called  a  bank-note 
detector,  was  issued  in  New  York  I  believe.  Those 
handling  money,  consulted  this  with  as  much  eagerness 
as  the  modern  citizen  consults  the  daily  papers. 

On  landing  at  Burlington  I  found  myself  without 
good  money  to  pay  hotel  bills  over  night  and  fare  to 
Mt.  Pleasant.  Something  had  to  be  done  to  meet  the 
situation,  so  I  went  to  a  jewelry  store  and  told  the  man 
in  charge  of  my  predicament,  asking  him  to  let  me  have 
ten  dollars  on  the  security  of  my  gold  watch  and  chain, 
until  I  could  return  him  the  amount.  He  kindly  ad 
vanced  that  sum,  and  I  was  able  to  conclude  the  journey. 
Arriving  at  Mt.  Pleasant,  I  found  my  uncle  and  family 
living  upon  one  corner  of  what  was  known  as  The 
Bishops  Square.  Bishop  Hamline,  a  noted  divine  of 
the  methodist  church,  a  man  of  fine  manners,  much 
erudition,  but  aged  and  infirm;  his  son  Dr.  Hamline 
and  Dr.  Elliot,  president  of  the  college,  lived  on  the 
three  remaining  quarters.  The  last  named  gentleman 
was  author  of  several  books,  among  them,  Elliot  on 
Slavery,  2  volumes.  He  had  the  reputation  of  being 
a  most  learned  man.  He  was,  I  think,  of  Irish  descent 
and  physically  of  the  Horace  Greeley  and  Oliver  Gold 
smith  type.  He  had  three  children,  two  girls  and  a  boy, 
all  students  of  the  college.  The  commencement  that 
year  was  held  about  two  months  after  my  arrival,  in  the 
college  building. 

I  found  in  Mt.  Pleasant  few  advantages  for  studying 
law;  no  more  perhaps  than  existed  in  Oshkosh.  The 
educational  lines  followed  more  the  denominational 


50  BEMINISCENCES 

lines;  some  thirty  superannuated  Methodist  ministers 
lived  in  the  town.  It  was  the  county  seat  of  Henry 
County,  and  the  court  house  occupied  the  public  square. 
Prominent  business  houses  surrounded  this  on  the  four 
sides. 

I  made  arrangements  to  study  law  with  the  firm  of 
Clark,  Doolittle  &  Cook.  Mr  Clark  was  brother  of 
the  noted  woman  writer,  "Grace  Greenwood."  Mr. 
Doolittle  was  a  young  gentleman  of  pleasing  manners. 
Mr.  Cook  had  won  some  honors  as  a  lawyer  and  legis 
lator  in  Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  late  addition  to  the 
firm.  I  read  law  under  such  guidance  with  much 
avidity,  my  first  studies  being  Blackstone  and  Kent. 

Mt.  Pleasant  was  at  that  time  quite  a  literary  center. 
Political  interest  was  dominant  and  animated.  That 
first  summer  I  caused  to  be  organized  a  law  school,  as 
a  department  of  the  college  work.  Henry  Ambler,  a 
leading  lawyer  of  the  place,  accepted  the  position  of 
circuit  judge,  in  our  moot  court;  he  was  also  to  occupy 
the  post  of  lecturer  on  statutory  and  common  laws. 
Senator  Harlan  accepted  our  invitation  to  lecture  on 
constitutional  law;  sometime  later  this  gentleman  be 
came  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  under  President  Lincoln. 
Another  practicing  lawyer  of  some  note,  by  the  name 
of  Palmer,  discoursed  on  criminal  law,  and  Dr.  Elliot 
consented  to  lecture  on  ecclesiastical  and  Roman  law. 
During  the  fall,  winter  and  spring  these  gentlemen 
gave  us  lectures  upon  several  subjects  assigned  them, 
and  all  concerned  appeared  to  take  great  interest  in  this 
law  class. 

Later  we  organized  a  Literary  Society;  the  gentle 
men  mentioned,  all  of  the  13  students  in  our  law  class 
and  several  residents,  became  members.  The  debates  of 


COLLEGE   AT    MT.    PLEASANT  51 

the  literary  society  were  usually  held  in  the  court  house, 
and  were  generally  very  well  attended.  Of  those  who 
participated,  I  remember  Mr.  Alvin  Sanders,  who  at 
that  time  was  a  banker  in  Mt.  Pleasant,  but  who  after 
wards  moved  to  the  state  of  Nebraska,  and  I  think 
served  two  terms  as  United  States  Senator  from  that 
state.  There  was  also  Henry  Clay  Dean,  a  lawyer  who 
afterwards  became  a  Methodist  minister  and  a  chaplain 
of  the  United  States  senate.  He  had  studied  law  in  the 
office  of  Thaddeus  Stevens,  of  Pennsylvania,  a  man  of 
great  reputation  in  congress.  Mr.  Dean  was  a  man  of 
great  ability  as  well  as  a  great  egotist.  In  any  group  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  he  monopolized  the  conversa 
tion.  He  was  I  think  the  most  eloquent  orator  to  whom 
I  ever  listened.  He  was  inclined  to  obesity,  was  careless 
in  his  attire,  neglected  his  ablutions,  which  detracted 
much  from  his  popularity.  The  following  anecdote  of 
Dean  was  repeated  by  William  Penn,  a  drygoods  mer 
chant  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  who  with  his  wife  visited  in 
Pennsylvania  and  was  told  of  the  orator's  visit  to  this 
same  place  the  summer  before.  Mr.  Dean  had  been  in 
vited  to  occupy  the  Methodist  pulpit  and  after  the  ser 
mon,  was  taken  to  dine  with  the  narrator.  A  little  daugh 
ter  of  the  house  listened  with  open-eyed  wonder  to  Mr. 
Dean's  table  talk.  After  the  meal,  watching  her  oppor 
tunity,  she  pulled  her  mother's  dress  and  asked :  "Mama, 
did  God  make  Mr.  Dean?"  "Yes,  of  course,"  replied 
the  mother.  "Well,"  said  the  child,  "Why  didn't  God 
put  a  clean  shirt  on  him  ?"  This  anecdote  was  published 
in  the  Mt.  Pleasant  Home  Journal,  and  it  made  Mr. 
Dean  very  angry.  I  recollect  seeing  in  print  a  story  to 
the  effect  that  Mr.  Dean  visited  a  senator,  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted,  remaining  in  his  house  over  night. 


52  REMINISCENCES 

The  wife  of  the  host  with  female  diplomacy,  placed  a 
clean  shirt  and  collar  in  his  room,  with  the  intimation 
that  they  were  for  his  use.  A  year  later  the  senator 
again  received  a  visit  from  Mr.  Dean ;  the  wife  offered 
the  same  courtesy,  and  later  discovered  that  the  shirt 
discarded,  was  the  very  one  she  had  given  him  the  year 
before.  Personally  I  had  reason  to  be  grateful  to  this 
erratic  genius,  for  he  manifested  considerable  interest 
in  me,  gave  me  the  freedom  of  his  library ;  from  him, 
also,  I  received  many  valuable  hints  on  public  speaking. 

I  became  deeply  interested  in  our  moot  court,  and 
for  sometime  officiated  as  its  clerk.  Cases  in  the  court 
were  made  up  by  agreement;  they  involved  questions 
of  law  which  the  students  argued  before  Mr.  Ambler 
acting  as  district  judge.  If  the  embryo  lawyer  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  decision  of  Judge  Ambler  he  could 
appeal  to  our  supreme  court.  This  was  composed  of 
three  prominent  lawyers  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  who  had 
kindly  agreed  to  act  in  that  capacity  for  us.  During 
the  year  I  had  some  twenty  suits  in  this  moot  court  and 
as  I  recollect,  I  won  all  but  three  of  them  before  Judge 
Ambler;  the  three  which  I  lost,  I  appealed  to  our 
supreme  court  and  won  two  out  of  the  three.  I  tried 
more  cases  with  George  B.  Corkhill  as  opposing  counsel 
than  with  any  other  member  of  the  law  class.  In  later 
years  this  man  was  appointed  United  States  district 
attorney  for  the  district  of  Columbia,  by  President  Gar- 
field.  He  held  that  office  during  the  trial  of  Guiteau  for 
the  assassination  of  the  president. 

Of  the  thirteen  students  in  our  law  class  I  remember 
only  the  following:  James  Berryman,  George  Baker 
Corkhill,  and  Charles  McDowell  of  Mt.  Pleasant;  also 
Boss  from  Pennsylvania  and  Harlan  from  Kentucky. 


COLLEGE    AT    MT.    PLEASANT  53 

During  the  winter  a  debate  occurred  in  Mt.  Pleasant 
between  a  new  arrival  in  the  place,  a  homeopathic 
physician,  and  a  number  of  allopathic  doctors  residing 
there.  Vigorous  attacks  were  made  without  regard  to 
feelings  or  reputation.  The  debate  interested  and 
amused  me  very  much.  Since  then,  however,  I  have 
had  no  great  veneration  for  the  medical  profession. 

Politics  at  this  time  were  growing  strenuous.  Sena 
tor  Douglas'  introduction,  and  the  passage  of  the  Kan 
sas-Nebraska  bill  by  congress,  had  excited  the  feelings 
of  both  North  and  South  to  fever  heat,  as  to  the  future 
of  slavery.  This  bitter  strife  focused  in  the  struggle  to 
gain  control  of  Kansas,  and  it  became  a  question  which 
party  could  send  the  greatest  number  of  emigrants 
there.  This  new  section  was  not  far  removed  from  our 
locality,  and  party  spirit  was  intense.  Judge  Claggett, 
of  the  Iowa  circuit  court,  was  a  violent  democrat,  and 
made  himself  most  unpopular  with  a  majority  of  the 
people  of  his  district,  of  which  Henry  County  was  a 
part.  An  effort  was  made  to  impeach  him,  but  he 
evaded  this  by  resigning. 

There  was  a  second  cause  of  excitement  at  that  time 
in  the  discovery  of  gold  at  Pike's  Peak.  There  were  np 
railroads  then,  west  of  the  Missouri  River,  it  being  an 
unbroken  country,  except  for  the  wagon  trails  of  the 
government  and  the  emigrant  trails  to  Salt  Lake  and 
California.  This  territory  was  peopled  by  wild  Indians 
and  herds  of  buffalo  roamed  over  these  plains.  The 
extent  of  the  gold  deposits  at  Pike's  Peak  was  a  matter 
of  conjecture,  but  many  went  there  filled  with  great 
expectations.  In  the  following  year,  a  Mr.  Francis 
Springer  was  appointed  by  the  governor  of  Iowa,  as 


54:  REMINISCENCES 

circuit  judge  to  succeed  Judge  Claggett.  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  fine  address,  and  a  very  able  lawyer. 

Ross  and  Berryman  wished  to  make  application  for 
admission  to  the  bar,  and  asked  me  to  join  them.  I  ob 
jected  as  I  did  not  consider  my  studies  completed,  but 
eventually  I  yielded  to  their  persuasions,  realizing  that 
the  attempt  would  bring  me  no  injury.  When  court  con 
vened  our  applications  were  presented  and  Judge 
Springer  appointed  three  members  of  the  Mt.  Pleasant 
bar  to  examine  us  in  open  court,  and  report  upon  our 
qualifications.  The  committee  gave  us  a  thorough  test 
and  reported  in  favor  of  our  admission  and  the  judge 
ordered  us  sworn  in  as  members  of  the  bar. 

At  this  term  of  court  the  grand  jury  had  indicted  a 
young  man  for  burglary,  and  he  was  arraigned  for  trial. 
The  judge  asked  him  if  he  had  counsel.  He  replied  in 
the  negative,  saying  that  he  had  no  money  to  pay  for 
such.  It  is  customary  for  the  court  to  appoint  a  mem 
ber  of  the  bar  to  defend  such  cases,  and  for  some  reason 
the  judge  selected  me.  The  prisoner  was  from  Indiana ; 
I  visited  him  daily  in  jail  until  the  trial  the  following 
Saturday.  District  Attorney  Berryman  was  an  able 
lawyer.  He  opened  the  case  with  skill,  introduced  his 
evidence  and  rested  his  case.  We  had  no  witnesses  for 
the  defence,  as  I  remember.  The  trial  occupied  the  fore 
noon,  then  the  court  adjourned  for  dinner.  It  was  ar 
ranged  that  I  should  make  the  opening  address,  so 
when  the  court  convened  in  the  afternoon,  I  spoke  for 
two  hours.  The  district  attorney  then  addressed  the 
jury,  the  court  charged  the  jurors  as  to  the  law,  and 
they  retired  to  decide  upon  their  verdict.  They  failed 
to  agree,  and  after  holding  out  all  Saturday  night  and 
Sunday,  stood  to  disagree.  The  judge  discharged  the 


COLLEGE   AT    MT.    PLEASANT  55 

jury.  On  Monday  or  Tuesday  he  had  the  prisoner 
brought  before  him,  and  ordered  a  new  trial  to  be  held 
the  following  Saturday.  I  felt  much  elated  at  the  re 
sult,  and  was  confident  that  I  should  free  the  young 
man  on  the  next  trial,  but  before  that  time  a  friend  or 
relative  of  the  prisoner  appeared  in  Mt.  Pleasant  and 
employed  an  old  criminal  lawyer  to  take  the  case.  This 
lawyer  asked  me  to  assist  him,  but  I  refused.  My 
tutor,  Mr.  Clark,  expostulated  with  me,  but  I  knew  that 
if  the  man  was  cleared,  the  lawyer,  and  not  I,  would 
get  the  credit.  At  the  trial  the  prisoner  was  speedily 
found  guilty. 

About  this  time  our  literary  society  was  indulging  in 
some  amusement  of  its -own.  There  was  a  certain  matter 
which  I  had  given  considerable  study  and  I  proposed 
the  following  resolution  for  debate  which  was  accepted ; 
"Resolved ;  that  the  whole  human  race  did  not  originate 
from  one  pair."  I  took  the  affirmative  of  the  question, 
and  Corkhill  the  negative.  He  was  a  fluent  speaker,  and 
I  judge  I  must  have  acquired  some  skill  as  a  debater,  be 
cause  I  was  usually  honored  with  a  good  audience.  On 
the  evening  of  the  contest  an  umpire  was  chosen  to 
decide  the  question  at  issue,  upon  the  merits  of  the 
arguments.  After  the  discussion  he  decided  in  my  favor. 
Such  a  verdict  was  not  in  accord  with  the  tenets  of  the 
Methodist  Church  or  of  the  college.  Some  of  the  pro 
fessors  and  other  citizens,  therefore,  wished  a  rehearing, 
to  which  I  consented,  and  again  assumed  the  affirma 
tive  side.  With  my  consent  Senator  Harlan  and  Henry 
Clay  Dean  spoke  on  the  negative  side.  This  time  the 
decision  was  against  me,  more  upon  theological  grounds, 
I  thought,  than  upon  the  merits  of  the  arguments. 

That  spring  there  was  a  great  emigration  to  the  gold 


56  BEMINISCENCES 

fields  around  Pike's  Peak.  Many  private  schooners,  bear 
ing  the  affirmation :  "Pike's  Peak  or  bust/'  drove  west 
ward,  at  the  beginning  of  the  season.  At  the  end  a  few 
returned,  with  the  sententious  legend,  "Busted"  written 
on  the  canvas.  My  friend  Ross  was  seized  with  the 
gold  fever,  and  was  most  urgent  that  I  go  with  him,  but 
I  declined.  He  went,  and  I  have  never  heard  from  nor 
of  him  since.  He  was  a  nice  fellow  and  I  would  like 
to  know  what  became  of  him.  Early  in  April  our  law 
class  broke  up  and  I  decided  to  return  to  Wisconsin. 
My  uncle  had  a  section  of  land  lying  west  of  Dubuque 
some  thirty  miles  or  more,  and  he  wished  me  to  go  and 
see  it  as  I  went  back,  and  to  report  on  its  location  and 
value.  To  this  I  consented.  On  the  journey,  going  up 
the  river  from  Burlington,  a  man  came  aboard  the 
steamer  with  whom  I  soon  became  acquainted.  He  had 
been  to  Des  Moines,  the  capital  of  Iowa,  to  have  a 
requisition  signed  by  the  governor  for  the  deportation 
of  a  man  who  had  escaped  from  Racine  County,  Wis 
consin,  the  charge  being  that  he  had  sold  a  piece  of 
land  located  in  the  bottom  of  a  lake.  The  deputy's 
route  would  take  him  past  the  place  I  was  expected  to 
examine,  so  we  continued  together.  Landing  at 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  we  stopped  there  for  the  night.  The 
town  is  located  at  the  east  end  of  a  canyon  several  miles 
long,  opening  on  the  Mississippi  River.  We  engaged  a 
team  and  open  buggy  for  our  trip  inland.  When  we 
left  Dubuque  in  the  morning,  a  few  flakes  of  snow  were 
falling,  as  we  went  up  the  canyon  the  snow  storm  in 
creased,  and  when  we  arrived  at  the  end  of  it  and  drove 
out  onto  a  level  prairie,  a  blizzard  struck  us  with  great 
force.  It  penetrated  my  clothing  as  if  it  had  been 
gossamer.  My  companion  who  had  passed  through 


COLLEGE    AT    MT.    PLEASANT  57 

many  similar  experiences  in  the  northwest,  was  driving. 
I  slid  under  the  buffalo  robe,  which  was  a  large  and 
heavy  one,  and  evaded  the  storm  as  much  as  possible. 
About  noon  we  arrived  at  a  place  called  Cedar  Falls. 
I  noted  with  interest  a  brick  flouring  mill.  After 
dining  we  resumed  our  journey.  The  storm  was  now 
less  severe,  but  the  air  was  very  cold.  We  came  next  to 
a  town  called  West  Union,  where  we  stayed  all  night 
at  a  hotel  which  was  cold  and  cheerless.  In  the  morning 
we  proceeded  on  our  way  across  an  uninhabited  and 
trackless  prairie.  On  this  was  situated  the  land  be 
longing  to  my  uncle,  which  I  was  to  examine.  I  covered 
the  location,  as  well  as  I  could  without  a  surveyor's 
assistance,  and  we  proceeded  on  our  way  across  a  wide 
and  pathless  stretch  of  country.  We  came  to  a  creek 
at  one  place,  and  the  deputy  sheriff,  who  was  driving, 
asked  me  to  get  out  and  examine  the  stream  and  select 
a  place  to  ford.  I  did  so,  and  stood  on  the  bank,  waiting 
until  he  should  reach  the  other  side.  The  water  did  not 
appear  to  be  more  than  eighteen  inches  deep  where  he 
was  to  cross,  but  when  he  drove  in,  the  horses  dropped 
suddenly  under  water,  broke  loose  from  the  buggy,  and 
finally  floundered  out  on  the  other  side.  When  the 
buggy  tipped  forward,  the  driver  was  thrown  into  the 
water,  but  clinging  to  the  lines,  he  was  dragged  to 
shore  by  the  team.  This  accident  amused  me  very 
much,  but  it  failed  to  affect  the  deputy  in  the  same 
humorous  way ;  instead  he  became  very  angry,  and  de 
nounced  me  soundly.  Later  I  was  able  to  convince  him 
of  my  innocence  in  the  matter.  My  companion  dried 
his  clothes  as  well  as  he  could  while  I  patched  the  broken 
harness,  and  we  proceeded  on  our  way,  reaching 
Decorah  in  time  for  supper.  The  next  morning  we  had 


58  BEMINISCENCES 

the  team  harnessed  and  brought  to  the  door  of  out 
hotel,  and  my  companion  directed  me  to  be  ready  to 
leave  at  any  moment  that  he  should  appear.  In  a  short 
time  he  came  back  in  another  buggy  accompanied  by  a 
stranger,  who  was  handcuffed.  He  transferred  this  man 
to  our  buggy,  directed  me  to  get  in,  jumped  in  himself, 
putting  the  horses  to  a  run  for  about  a  mile,  in  order  to 
get  out  of  the  county  in  which  he  had  arrested  the  man 
fearing  to  be  served  with  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus. 
This  Sunday  was  a  very  different  day  from  the  Friday 
before.  The  sun  shone  brightly,  the  sky  was  cloudless, 
the  air  balmy  and  all  Nature  smiled.  Even  the  prisoner 
appeared  to  be  resigned  to  his  lot.  It  was  the  deputy 
alone  who  seemed  anxious,  and  he  drove  the  team  as 
hard  as  they  could  stand  it.  At  Cedar  Falls  he  secured 
another  conveyance,  resigning  the  one  he  had  been  using 
to  me.  Fearing  pursuit,  he  was  resolved  to  cross  the 
Mississippi  that  night.  Before  parting  from  me  thd 
officer  asked  the  loan  of  some  money  with  which  to 
complete  his  journey  home.  Sometime  afterwards, 
when  at  Oshkosh  I  received  the  payment  of  this  loan, 
but  I  never  learned  the  fate  of  the  prisoner. 

After  parting  from  the  deputy  and  his  charge,  I  pro 
ceeded  to  Dubuque,  the  next  day  crossed  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  from  there  took  the  train  for  Oshkosh. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

VAEIED  OCCUPATIONS. 

I  made  arrangements  to  continue  my  law  studies 
with  Wheeler  &  Coolbaugh,  of  Oshkosh,  a  firm  doing 
a  large  law  business.  Mr.  Wheeler  was  an  honorable 
man  and  a  good  lawyer,  but  physically  not  strong.  Soon 
after  I  entered,  Earl  P.  Finch,  from  Neenah,  studied 
law  in  the  same  office. 

I  boarded  that  winter  with  the  family  of  George  W. 
Lathrop,  who  lived  about  two  miles  from  town  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river.  I  walked  into  the  city  every 
morning  and  back  at  night,  which  gave  me  good  exer 
cise.  The  next  summer  I  went  into  town  to  live  with 
my  sister,  whose  home  was  on  Otter  Street.  One  night 
hearing  an  alarm  of  fire  bells,  I  ran  out  to  Ferry  Street 
where  I  saw  off  towards  the  river  a  number  of  buildings 
blazing  high  in  the  air.  I  was  at  once  convinced  that 
all  the  buildings  on  the  street  would  burn.  I  went  to 
our  law  office,  seized  as  many  books  as  I  could  carry, 
and  ran  with  them  to  my  sister's  home.  I  then  re 
turned  for  another  load  of  books  but  reaching  the  office 
I  found  the  building  on  fire  and  unsafe  to  enter. 

The  fire  department,  which  consisted  of  one  or  two 
hand  machines  was  trying  its  best  to  stop  the  spread  of 
the  conflagration.  A  locomotive  and  flat  car  were  sent 
to  the  city  of  Fond  du  Lac,  sixteen  miles  distant,  for 
the  fire  engine  of  that  city.  The  men  returned  with  the 
machine  in  little  more  than  half  an  hour,  making  re 
markable  time  for  those  days. 

59 


60  REMINISCENCES 

The  city  was  without  water  works  at  this  time.  Large 
cisterns  had  been  sunk  at  various  points  in  the  streets 
for  use  in  case  of  fire,  and  most  houses  at  that  time 
were  supplied  with  wells,  into  which  the  suction  hose 
of  the  hand  machines  could  be  dropped  and  the  well 
pumped  dry.  When  the  company  from  Fond  du  Lac  ar 
rived,  the  boys  unloaded  the  machine  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river,  and  started  on  a  run  for  the  fire.  Crossing 
the  floating  bridge  they  came  up  Ferry  Street  between 
the  burnt  and  burning  buildings.  It  was  indeed  exciting 
to  watch  this  company  haul  the  machine  through  the  hol 
ocaust  of  fire  which  was  burning  on  every  side.  It  was 
certainly  a  very  brave  act,  and  won  great  applause  from 
spectators.  The  fire  burned  so  rapidly  that  little  was 
saved  that  in  any  way  was  exposed.  All  the  buildings 
on  both  sides  of  Ferry  Street,  big  and  little  including 
Mark's  Hall  and  the  Winnebago  Hotel  were  burned, 
as  far  as  Algoma  Street. 

While  living  in  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  order  to  straighten 
out  my  uncle's  financial  affairs,  I  had  procured  a  text 
book  on  Double  Entry  Book-keeping,  and  had  studied 
the  principles  so  well  that  I  was  able  to  put  all  his  busi 
ness  transactions,  so  far  as  he  could  remember  them,  into 
a  set  of  double  entry  books.  This  experience  made  me 
quite  familiar  with  this  system  and  was  of  great  benefit 
to  me  in  after  years,  for  I  became  well  grounded  in  its 
principles. 

The  mortgage  that  I  held  on  the  saw  mill  in  Omro 
I  was  induced  by  the  mortgagor,  to  bid  in,  under  the 
promise  that  he  would  redeem  the  same  and  pay  me 
the  cash.  This  he  failed  to  do,  and  I  became  owner  of 
the  mill.  The  lumber  business  at  that  time  was  not  very 
lucrative.  Pine  trees  were  so  plentiful  and  accessible 


VARIED    OCCUPATIONS  61 

up  the  river,  that  more  lumber  was  manufactured  than 
the  demand  required.  A  Mr.  Waterman  and  myself 
entered  into  partnership  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  to  con 
duct  a  lumber  business  and  operate  the  mill.  This  mill 
was  what  in  those  days  was  called  a  muley  mill;  its 
maximum  capacity  would  not  exceed  ten  thousand  feet 
per  day ;  its  average  was  even  less.  The  employees  I  do 
not  think  exceeded  eight  or  ten  men  in  number.  The 
next  spring  I  moved  to  Omro  that  I  might  be  near  the 
business.  I  opened  a  law  office  and  Waterman  managed 
the  mill. 

Prior  to  this  time  there  had  been  boats  for  towing 
logs,  operated  by  horse  power.  These  boats  were  fur 
nished  with  what  is  called  a  "grouser,"  also  side  wheels, 
a  rudder,  and  a  spool  for  winding  the  towline.  This 
grouser  is  a  piece  of  oak,  eight  by  twelve  inches  in  size, 
and  from  sixteen  to  twenty  feet  long.  It  could  be 
dropped  endwise  and  would  stick  in  the  bottom  of  the 
river  and  hold  the  boat  firm.  The  horses  attached  to  the 
sweep,  walked  on  a  platform  built  on  the  deck  of  the 
boat.  The  circular  gear,  attached  to  the  end  of  the  boat 
operated  the  spool  around  which  was  wound  a  tow-line, 
perhaps  one  and  a  half  inches  in  diameter,  and  from 
five  hundred  to  one  thousand  feet  long.  The  horse  power 
would  be  attached  to  the  side  wheels  and  the  horses 
would  run  the  boat  out  the  length  of  the  tow-line,  which 
was  attached  to  a  raft  of  logs  or  anything  else  which  it 
was  desired  to  tow.  When  the  line  was  all  run  out  it 
would  stop  the  boat,  and  then  the  grouser  would  be 
dropped,  firmly  fastening  the  boat  to  its  position;  then 
the  gear  of  the  boat  would  be  changed  from  side  wheels 
to  the  spool,  which  would  be  turned  to  wind  up  the  tow- 
line  and  haul  the  tow  up  to  the  boat.  Then  the  same 


62  BEMINISCENCES 

process  would  be  repeated.  Thus  a  heavy  tow  could  be 
hauled  up  the  river  or  through  a  lake.  These  horse- 
boats,  as  they  were  called,  were  used  principally  in  small 
rivers.  I  conceived  the  plan  of  substituting  a  locomotive 
boiler  and  engine  as  power  on  one  of  these  boats,  think 
ing  it  would  be  more  powerful,  economical  and  conven 
ient.  The  change  as  made  was  necessarily  experimental 
and  crude,  but  it  was  quite  successful.  I  towed  my  own 
logs  from  the  boom  at  Lake  Poygan  to  the  mill,  as  I 
bought  them.  For  convenience  in  towing,  they  were  put 
up  in  rafts  about  three  hundred  feet  long  and  forty 
feet  wide.  The  booms  were  made  of  long  logs,  about  a 
foot  in  diameter ;  the  ends  were  flattened,  and  bored  with 
a  three-inch  auger;  an  oak  pin  held  the  two  ends  to 
gether. 

When  enough  pieces  had  been  put  together  to  make  a 
raft,  the  logs  were  placed  inside  of  it  like  candles  in  a 
box.  The  logs  were  cut  in  the  woods  in  northern  Wis 
consin  and  hauled  to  the  river  bank  or  onto  the  ice, 
and  when  the  ice  broke  up  in  the  spring,  the  logs  would 
float  down  with  the  current  to  where  a  channel  was  cut 
through,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Wolf  River  to  an  arm 
of  Lake  Poygan.  This  arm  was  secured  by  a  stationary 
boom  into  which  the  logs  were  driven,  then  by  expert  log 
men  they  were  placed  in  the  towing-booms  which  I 
have  before  described.  These  towing-booms  were  lashed 
together  in  great  rafts  or  floats,  and  then  towed  by 
powerful  tugs. 

There  were  more  than  a  dozen  mills  at  one  time  at 
Oshkosh,  and  at  Fond  du  Lac  nearly  as  many  more, 
There  were  also  mills  at  Neenah  and  Menasha,  For 
a  great  many  years  it  was  estimated  that  three  hundred 
million  feet  of  pine  lumber  was  produced  each  year,  be- 


VAEIED   OCCUPATIONS  63 

ing  the  products  of  forests  lining  the  banks  of  the  Wolf 
Biver  and  its  tributaries.  Small  towboats  were  used 
to  tow  logs  up  the  Fox  River  to  the  sawmills  situated  on 
its  banks.  They  were  of  the  same  pattern  as  the  one 
which  I  altered  and  have  described. 

At  a  place  called  Portage,  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox 
Rivers  are  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other.  A  canal 
had  been  dug  by  the  Fox  River  Improvement  Company 
connecting  the  two  rivers.  These  streams  were  dredged 
in  order  to  make  them  navigable  for  light  draught  steam 
ers  towing  lumber  scows.  A  man  of  the  name  of  Neff, 
living  at  Oshkosh,  had  a  tug  boat  on  the  Wisconsin 
River,  and  also  had  some  scows  at  Oshkosh  which  he 
wished  taken  to  Portage.  A  Mr.  Barnes  had  seventy- 
five  thousand  feet  of  lumber  which  he  had  contracted  to 
deliver  at  Portage.  My  tugboat  captain  agreed  to  take 
the  scow  and  lumber  to  Portage  in  specified  time.  He 
therefore  loaded  the  lumber  on  the  scows  and  started  up 
the  Fox  River.  When  he  arrived  within  two  days'  jour 
ney  of  Portage,  Mr.  Neff  met  him  and  induced  him  to 
unload  the  lumber  on  the  river  bank  because  it  impeded 
his  progress.  This  he  did  and  started  with  the  lighters 
up  the  river.  The  captain  of  the  tug  "Lady  Jane,"  com 
ing  down  the  river  was  informed  of  this  transaction  and 
reported  it  to  me.  When  I  heard  of  the  affair  I  knew  it 
meant  heavy  damages  and  probably  a  law  suit  unless  the 
lumber  should  be  delivered  as  agreed.  The  "Lady  Jane" 
was  to  return  immediately  with  another  tow,  as  towing 
lumber  from  Oshkosh  to  Portage  was  part  of  her  busi 
ness.  I  engaged  a  couple  of  lighters  from  the  captain, 
got  aboard  the  boat  and  traveled  up  the  river  to  where 
the  lumber  had  been  left.  Mr.  Barnes  had  heard  of 
the  mishap  and  had  started  down  the  river  to  see  me. 


64  REMINISCENCES 

We  returned  to  the  place  where  the  lumber  was  piled, 
and  the  two  scows  were  left  with  us  on  which  to  load 
the  freight.  The  next  morning  we  began  this  work, 
and  before  sundown  had  it  all  on  board — 75,000  feet 
of  dry  pine  lumber.  This  proves  that  we  were  both 
strong,  active  men. 

The  next  day  my  boat  returned  from  Portage.  I 
started  the  captain  again  for  that  place,  Mr.  Barnes  ac 
companying  him,  while  I  proceeded  to  Omro.  On  the 
return  of  the  boat  to  the  latter  place,  I  was  informed 
by  one  of  its  hands  that  the  captain  had  tried  to  sell  my 
boat  at  Portage.  I  tied  the  boat  up  to  the  dock  and 
discharged  the  captain.  He  was  furious  and  refused 
to  leave  the  boat,  I  told  him  that  he  could  stay  on  it, 
that  it  was  all  right,  as  I  wanted  to  have  a  watchman 
anyway.  The  next  day  he  recovered  from  his  bad  tem 
per  and  wished  to  conciliate  me,  but  he  had  proved  him 
self  incompetent  and  dishonest.  I  had  no  use  for  that 
kind  of  a  man,  so  insisted  upon  his  going.  I  had  al 
ready  tried  several  captains  and  had  been  unfortunate 
in  them  all,  so  after  some  delay  I  concluded  to  leave 
the  sawmill  in  Waterman's  charge  and  go  as  tug  captain 
myself.  I  found  all  the  business  that  the  boat  was 
able  to  do.  I  was  very  busy  all  that  season,  and 
made  considerable  money  with  the  tug,  also  acquir 
ing  much  experience  in  towing  logs.  There  had  hap 
pened  to  be  quite  a  scarcity  of  boats  that  fall,  doing  that 
line  of  business.  The  freezing  up  of  the  river  ended 
the  towing  and  sawmill  business  for  the  season.  Of 
course  I  had  very  little  law  business,  and  spent  much  of 
my  time  in  Oshkosh. 

During  the  years  since  I  had  arrived  in  Oshkosh  I 
had  been  bound  to  the  town  by  an  attraction,  in  the 


VAEIED    OCCUPATIONS  65 

guise  of  a'  girl,  now  a  young  lady.  She  was  tall,  of  slim 
figure,  with,  red  cheeks  and  a  very  handsome  chin.  She 
had  bright  brown  eyes  and  brown  hair.  What  particu 
larly  attracted  me  I  cannot  say.  It  may  be  that  when 
ever  I  met  her  she  looked  pleasant  and  smiled.  When 
I  called  at  her  home  I  always  visited  with  the  family. 
Her  mother  I  found  to  be  an  exceedingly  intelligent 
and  upright  woman,  and  she  too,  always  gave  me  a 
pleasant  welcome.  There  was  at  that  time  in  Oshkosh 
a  bevy  of  school  girls,  the  brightest  and  most  intelligent 
that  I  had  ever  met,  and  my  choice  I  considered  the 
best  of  them  all.  We  had  known  each  other  more  than 
four  years  and  had  been  very  happy  in  our  courtship; 
so  we  concluded  in  the  spring  of  1860  that  it  was  time 
to  be  married  and  begin  a  home  of  our  own,  in  Omro. 
I  rented  a  cottage  situated  in  a  grove  of  burr  oaks,  fur 
nished  it  complete  for  living,  then  one  quiet  Sunday 
evening  we  were  married  in  the  young  lady's  home  by 
the  Eev.  W.  H.  Marble,  the  guests  being  friends  of  her 
self  and  family  and  my  friends  and  relatives.  The  next 
day  we  removed  to  our  home  in  Omro  and  lived  there 
as  happy  as  mortals  can  be. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  I  ought  to  carry  some  insur 
ance  on  my  mill.  The  local  retail  lumber  trade  at  Omro 
was  limited,  and  I  had  shipped  my  lumber  principally 
to  Waupun,  Wis.  I  thought  I  would  go  there,  collect 
some  money  and  get  the  mill  insured.  I  took  my  wife 
with  me  and  we  drove  in  a  buggy  through  the  beautiful 
country  lying  between  Omro  and  Waupun.  The  drive 
was  very  enjoyable,  the  weather  fine  and  the  beautiful 
homes,  bountiful  crops  and  handsome  farms  looked  en 
chanting.  I  found  my  affairs  at  Waupun  in  a  prosper 
ous  condition,  and  having  transacted  my  business,  we 


60  REMINISCENCES 

started  for  home.  On  arriving  at  the  top  of  a  hill  over 
looking  the  village  of  Omro,  I  met  a  neighbor  who  in 
formed  me  that  my  sawmill  had  burned  the  night  be 
fore.  This  put  an  immediate  stop  to  our  happiness  and 
pleasant  planning.  I  was  without  capital  to  build 
a  new  mill ;  the  prospects  for  the  lumber  business  were 
not  good,  and  I  was  in  a  troubled  sea  of  doubt  as  to 
what  I  ought  to  do.  Friends  and  relatives  advised 
against  rebuilding,  and  this  made  it  more  difficult  for 
me  to  arrive  at  any  decision.  The  question  arose,  should 
I  devote  myself  entirely  to  the  law?  I  doubted  if  I 
could  make  a  living  at  it.  Thus  different  schemes  were 
considered,  but  none  adopted. 

The  railroad  from  Bipon  to  Omro  had  been  built  by 
a  man  named  Bigelow.  Bonds  of  the  township  had  been 
given  him  in  exchange  for  stock  in  the  road,  making 
that  gentleman  practically  owner  of  the  railroad.  He 
spent  much  of  his  private  fortune  in  promoting  it,  also 
all  the  money  he  could  borrow.  The  track  was  in  such 
bad  shape  that  the  Milwaukee  and  Horicon  Railroad, 
which  operated  the  road  called  the  Omro  &  Ttipon  Rail 
road,  being  some  ten  miles  in  length,  refused  to  run  a 
locomotive  over  it  until  the  road  should  be  put  in  repair. 
I  wished  to  ship  over  this  road  a  quantity  of  lumber 
which  had  been  hauled  and  piled  along  the  railroad. 
Andrew  Wilson  and  another  mill  owner  were  in  the 
same  predicament.  Mr.  Bigelow  called  for  contribu 
tions  of  money  to  help  him  in  repairing  the  road.  He 
had  proved  himself  to  be  a  good  promiser  and  poor  per 
former  ;  so  the  citizens  refused  to  give  him  another  dol 
lar,  but  told  him  that  if  he  would  give  me  a  lease  of  the 
road  for  three  years  they  would  raise  the  money  to  put 
it  in  repair  so  that  lumber  might  be  hauled  out  and  goods 


VAEIED    OCCUPATIONS  67 

and  freight  brought  in.  Finding  that  he  could  make 
no  better  terms,  Mr.  Bigelow  consented. 

I  had  had  no  experience  in  railroad  building  or  re 
pairing,  and  so  wrote  to  Mr.  Blossom,  receiver  of  the 
Milwaukee  &  Horicon  Railroad,  asking  him  to  send  me 
a  competent  man,  which  he  did.  I  spent  my  time  on  the 
line  of  the  road,  watching  the  work  and  the  method  of 
doing  it  I  soon  discovered  that  the  superintendent 
whom  I  had  engaged  was  a  poor  manager  of  men.  I 
concluded  that  I  could  do  better,  so  dismissed  him  and 
took  charge  of  the  work  myself.  The  fall  proved  re 
markably  warm  that  year,  the  ground  did  not  freeze,  so 
we  were  able  to  work  on  the  road-bed  until  the  twentieth 
of  December  by  which  time  it  was  in  fairly  good  shape. 
Mr.  Bigelow  had  a  contract  with  the  Milwaukee  &  Hori 
con  Railroad  on  a  mileage  and  pro  rata  basis.  This 
allowed  me  only  sufficient  money  to  keep  the  road  in 
order.  I  endeavored  to  secure  better  terms  from  Mr. 
Blossom,  but  he  argued  that,  being  a  receiver,  the  court 
would  not  permit  him  to  make  another  contract  disad 
vantageous  to  his  receivership ;  so  the  prospect  for  mak 
ing  money  in  the  running  of  the  road  was  not  encourag 
ing. 

I  think  that  description  of  the  methods  of  building 
railroads  fifty  years  ago  would  be  interesting  to  the  peo 
ple  of  this  day.  When  a  railroad  is  to  be  built  by  a 
corporation  nowadays  it  is  only  necessary  to  issue  bonds 
and  stocks  and  sell  them  on  the  stock  market  in  Wall 
Street  and  so  raise  millions  of  dollars  with  which  to 
build  the  road.  In  those  days  the  farmers  and  merchants 
all  wanted  railroads  in  order  to  get  their  grain  to  market 
and  goods  into  the  towns.  Some  schemer  would  employ 
a  civil  engineer  to  survey  a  line  of  railroad  where  it 


68  REMINISCENCES 

might  be  needed ;  then  a  man  fitted  to  such  work  would 
be  employed  to  visit  farmers  along  the  line  of  the  sur 
vey  and  induce  them  if  possible  to  donate  the  right  of 
way.  This  most  of  them  would  do,  as  they  were  very 
anxious  to  have  the  road  built.  Then  a  plausible  talker 
or  writer  would  induce  the  farmers  along  the  line  of  the 
proposed  railway  to  mortgage  their  farms  in  exchange 
for  stock  of  the  road  and  most  of  them,  with  the  opti 
mism  of  the  time,  would  do  so ;  also  villages  and  towns 
would  be  persuaded  to  issue  their  bonds.  I  remember 
the  city  of  Oshkosh  gave  to  William  B.  Ogden,  Presi 
dent  of  the  Chicago  &  North- Western  Railroad,  $100,- 
000  in  bonds,  to  enable  him  to  build  the  road  from  Fond 
du  Lac  to  their  city.  Any  man  who  was  unwilling  to 
give  a  good  share  of  what  he  owned  to  further  such  a 
project,  and  would  not  advise  his  neighbors  to  do  the 
same,  was  considered  to  be  lacking  in  public  spirit  and 
business  foresight.  In  the  early  fifties  the  Chicago  & 
North-Western  Railroad  was  built  from  Chicago  to 
Janesville  and  from  there  northward  to  Fond  du  Lac, 
where  it  established  machine  shops  and  car  shops,  then 
extended  the  line  to  Oshkosh,  Green  Bay  and  Lake  Su 
perior.  That  line  of  road  became  the  nucleus  of  the 
railways  which  gridiron  the  great  Northwest  and  whose 
lines  of  track  aggregate  nearly  ten  thousand  miles. 


CHAPTEK  VII. 

WESTWAKD,  HO! 

In  1858  political  strife  was  engendered  by  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  which  led  to  those" 
celebrated  debates  in  Illinois  between  Lincoln  and  Doug 
las,  and  two  years  later  to  the  candidacy  of  both,  for  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States.  Bell  and  Breckenridge 
were  also  candidates.  Douglas  introduced  a  new  feature 
into  presidential  contests  by  "stumping"  the  country  in 
favor  of  his  own  election.  I  was  a  great  admirer  of 
Mr.  Douglas.  He  sent  for  Henry  Clay  Dean  to  aid  him 
by  speaking  through  the  state  of  Illinois  in  his  behalf. 
I  believe  it  was  my  efforts  which  persuaded  him  to  con 
sent.  On  his  return  from  campaigning  in  Illinois,  he 
reported  to  me  that  Douglas  had  promised  him  that  if 
elected  president  he  would  appoint  him  (Dean)  governor 
and  appoint  me  United  States  Attorney  for  the  territory 
of  Utah.  Douglas  in  this  canvass  spoke  as  far  north  as 
Fond  du  Lac,  traveling  as  he  went  in  a  special  train. 
I  went  to  Fond  du  Lac  to  hear  him  speak,  as  I  had  not 
had  that  pleasure  before.  An  immense  crowd  gathered 
to  hear  him.  I  secured  a  good  position  both  for  hearing 
and  seeing.  He  proved  a  very  deliberate,  sententious 
speaker.  He  told  how  many  times  he  had  spoken  that 
week  and  that  day,  then  turning  to  Charles  Eldredge, 
who  at  that  time  was  a  member  of  Congress,  said :  "My 
friend  Eldridge  says  that  I  would  not  be  able  to  stand 
this,  if  I  did  not  have  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 

69 


70  REMINISCENCES 

I  had  a  great  love  for  Senator  Douglas,  and  desired 
to  see  him  elected  president  What  would  have  been  the 
result  to  the  country  if  he  had  become  president  can  only 
be  a  matter  of  conjecture.  At  all  events  he  proved  him 
self  to  be  a  true  and  loyal  patriot,  until  his  untimely 
death  robbed  the  country  of  his  services  and  counsel. 

A  proposition  to  form  a  business  partnership  with  a 
Mr.  Deverill  was  presented  to  me  soon  after.  We  were 
to  engage  in  buying  and  selling  grain,  flour  or  any 
other  commodity  in  which  we  considered  there  was  a 
profit  I  consented,  and  we  conducted  such  a  business 
for  a  year ;  then  upon  figuring  results  I  found  that  we 
had  made  a  profit  upon  everything  I  had  bought  and  a 
loss  upon  most  everything  he  had  bought. 

Then  came  1861  and  with  it  the  great  war.  When  Fort 
Sumter  was  fired  upon,  that  event  caused  great  excite 
ment  through  the  entire  north.  The  southern  states  had 
seceded  and  what  the  result  would  be  for  the  country, 
none  could  foresee.  The  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  caused 
President  Lincoln  to  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  vol 
unteers  "to  put  down  the  rebellion  in  the  south."  On 
receipt  of  this  news  a  public  meeting  was  held  in  Osh- 
kosh,  and  speeches  were  made  by  representative  citizens. 
Mr.  "Gabe"  Bouck,  a  prominent  democratic  lawyer  and 
politician  of  Oshkosh,  urged  the  city  to  send  at  once  a 
company  to  the  protection  of  the  capital,  offering  his 
own  services  as  leader.  He  asked  me  to  enlist,  promis 
ing  if  I  would  do  so  to  make  me  second  lieutenant  of 
his  company.  Prior  to  this  Charles  W.  Felker,  a  prom 
ising  young  lawyer  at  Omro,  and  I  had  agreed  that  in 
case  of  a  war  we  would  raise  a  company  and  serve  in 
same;  therefore  I  felt  obliged  to  refuse  Mr.  Bouck's 
proposition. 


WESTWARD,    HO!  71 

Early  in  July  President  Lincoln  issued  a  call  for 
three  hundred  thousand  additional  men.  At  that  time 
there  were  few  military  men  in  this  country  who  knew 
how  to  drill  a  company,  still  fewer  who  could  drill  a 
regiment  or  a  brigade.  In  all  towns  of  considerable 
size,  one  or  more  companies  were  being  raised  and 
offered  to  the  adjutant  general  of  the  state ;  but  it  was 
destitute  of  clothing  and  arms  and  could  only  accept 
companies  as  it  could  provide  them  with  equipments. 

Felker  and  I  called  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  one  of  the 
churches  in  Omro.  This  was  well  attended  by  the  pa 
triots  of  the  village,  and  over  fifty  men  enlisted  that 
night.  Felker  was  nominated  captain  of  the  company, 
and  elected  by  acclamation.  I  was  nominated  as  first 
lieutenant  and  was  elected  in  the  same  manner,  as  was 
also  Dr.  Ambler  for  second  lieutenant.  After  the  elec 
tion  we  formed  in  line  and  marched  through  the  streets, 
cheering  at  the  houses  of  the  different  officers,  and 
finally  retired  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  patriots. 

After  this  meeting  we  tried  to  increase  the  number  of 
our  enlistments.  I  think  it  was  about  eighty  men  we 
wanted,  and  that  we  finally  secured  about  seventy.  I 
remember  going  out  one  day  with  Mr.  A.  B.  Cady,  who 
was  our  village  postmaster,  to  see  a  young  man  by  the 
name  of  Pingrey,  and  if  possible  to  persuade  him  to 
enlist.  Mr.  Cady  in  a  strenuous  argument  told  him  that 
his  (Cady's)  grandfather  served  in  the  war  of  the  Rev 
olution,  that  his  father  had  served  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  that  he  himself  had  served  in  the  Mexican  war. 
Pingrey  listened  without  enthusiasm  while  Cady  was 
extolling  the  patriotism  of  his  own  family,  and  then 
quietly  remarked  that  he  had  never  known  of  a  Pingrey 
being  in  any  war,  and  that  so  far  as  he  was  concerned 


72  EEMINISCENCES 

there  never  would  be.  This  reply  floored  Cady  and 
greatly  amused  me.  We  returned  that  day  without  any 
recruits. 

Patiently  we  waited  to  have  our  company  accepted. 
Some  of  our  men  became  very  impatient  and  often  un 
reasonable;  several  members  went  to  Ripon  and  en 
listed  in  a  cavalry  regiment  which  was  being  raised 
there. 

About  this  time  was  born  unto  us  a  son,  and  he  has 
been  our  only  child.  The  event  gave  my  wife  and  my 
self  much  happiness. 

When  the  excitement  began  to  subside,  the  enthu 
siasm  for  the  war  began  to  wane.  It  seemed  impossible 
for  the  state  to  equip  the  numerous  companies  that  were 
offered,  neither  were  they  accepted  in  the  order  of  their 
offering.  Finally,  one  morning  in  September,  Felker 
received  a  letter  from  the  adjutant,  saying  that  if  he 
would  report  a  full  company  by  a  date  in  July,  which 
he  named,  he  would  assign  us  to  the  seventh  regiment 
Wisconsin  volunteers.  Felker,  not  being  a  veteran  in 
matters  pertaining  to  war,  showed  considerable  inde 
pendence,  and  wrote  the  adjutant  general  in  reply  a 
very  caustic  letter,  calling  his  attention  to  the  fact  that 
the  date  he  mentioned  had  elapsed  nearly  two  months; 
perhaps  he  had  made  a  mistake  in  dates  and  meant  Octo 
ber  1,  if  such  were  the  case,  although  many  of  our  men 
had  enlisted  in  other  companies,  he  would  report  a  full 
company,  the  same  subject  to  his  orders,  but  that  if 
he  meant  as  he  wrote  it  was  an  evident  impossibility 

and  that  he  might  "go  to  h ."  This  letter  Felker 

wrote  and  signed,  and  asked  me  to  sign  it  also,  which 
I  did;  with  it  evaporated  our  expectations  of  military 
glory.  We  afterwards  learned  through  Judge  Wheeler, 


WESTWARD,    HO!  73 

who  was  in  close  touch  with  the  state  authorities,  that 
our  commissions  were  at  this  time  made  out  and  all 
ready  to  be  forwarded,  but  that  the  evident  spirit  of  in 
subordination  in  our  letter  was  more  than  the  adjutant 
general  could  stand  for,  and  so  he  let  our  company  die 
a  natural  death  rather  than  through  military  carnage. 
I  gave  up  all  ambitions  for  military  glory  then.  The 
evident  incompetency  of  the  officers  in  command,  the 
disheartening  campaigns  of  the  war,  made  the  future 
look  gloomy  for  the  north.  It  became  apparent  to  the 
most  optimistic  that  the  war  would  be  bitterly  con 
tested. 

In  the  spring  of  1862  my  prospects  were  most  dis 
couraging.  The  legislature  refusing  process  of  law 
against  persons  enlisted  in  the  army  made  the  lawyer's 
profession  a  very  uncertain  means  for  making  a  living. 
My  mill  was  burned,  shutting  me  off  from  any  business 
in  that  line.  My  only  chance  for  employment  in  a 
military  capacity  was  to  enlist  as  a  private  and  this 
would  yield  but  a  pittance  towards  the  support  of  a 
family.  No  opportunity  for  employment  appeared,  and 
I  was  finally  persuaded  to  remove  to  Oshkosh,  where  I 
opened  a  law  office  with  a  Mr.  Boyington,  who  had 
about  the  same  amount  of  law  business  as  I  had ;  which 
was  not  much.  I  was  a  democrat,  and  he  was  a  repub 
lican.  There  was  a  secret  political  organization,  which 
permeated  the  country  at  that  time;  I  believe  it  was 
called  the  Loyal  Legion.  Mr.  Boyington  told  me  one 
day  that  my  case  had  been  considered  by  this  order  and 
that  he  had  been  authorized  to  say  if  I  would  join  it 
and  become  a  good  republican,  I  could  have  any  politi 
cal  preferment  I  wished,  but  that  if  I  remained  a  demo 
crat  the  organization  would  see  that  I  had  neither  busi- 


74:  REMINISCENCES 

ness  nor  prosperity.  I  was  inclined  to  think  at  that  time 
that  this  resolution  had  been  formed,  but  I  was  not  to 
be  forced  into  any  party  in  which  I  did  not  believe, 
so  I  returned  a  defiant  answer. 

Matters  crept  along;  nothing  was  talked  of  but  the 
war.  I  concluded  that  I  could  not  succeed  in  Oshkosh, 
that  I  would  have  to  go  somewhere  else.  After  a  good 
deal  of  deliberation  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
would  go  to  California  and  enter  into  the  practice  of 
law  in  that  state.  It  was  the  most  promising  scheme  I 
could  think  of,  so  I  prepared  to  go  there. 

That  spring  I  joined  the  masonic  fraternity,  and  be 
came  a  member  of  Oshkosh  Lodge  No.  27.  I  was  fond 
of  masonry,  and  have  never  lost  my  love  for  it.  A  man 
who  is  a  good  mason  is  a  good  man  in  any  walk  of  life 
which  he  may  follow.  At  that  time  I  was  well  posted 
in  the  work  and  became  a  master  mason. 

I  went  from  Oshkosh  to  'New  York  City,  and  from 
there  sailed  on  the  steamer  "Ocean  Queen"  for  Aspin- 
wall.  This  steamer  was  built  of  wood  and  was  I  think 
heavily  loaded;  at  any  rate  she  had  a  habit  of  plung 
ing  her  bow  deeply  into  the  sea  when  it  was  at  all 
rough.  We  were  eight  days  on  this  voyage.  When  we 
sailed  into  the  tropics  the  weather  became  very  warm, 
and  so  was  the  drinking  water.  The  only  way  to  get 
anything  cool  to  drink  was  to  buy  lemonade,  made 
from  limes,  at  the  bar.  The  food  for  cabin  passengers 
was  fairly  palatable.  On  the  trip  I  made  the  acquaint 
ance  of  two  passengers,  whom  I  afterwards  met  in 
Nevada.  One  was  John  P.  Kelley  who  claimed  to  be 
the  nephew  of  the  acting  governor  of  Kentucky;  the 
other  was  Frank  Drake,  an  engineer  at  Mare  Island 
Navy  Yard,  who  was  returning  from  a  visit  to  relatives 


WESTWARD,    HO!  75 

and  friends  in  Massachusetts.  I  made  this  voyage  in 
June,  1863. 

We  landed  in  rowboats  at  Aspinwall,  which  proved 
to  be  a  low  and  dirty  town.  We  came  ashore  in  the 
morning  and  after  a  short  delay  were  transported  over 
the  Panama  R.  R.  to  the  city  of  that  name,  where  we 
went  aboard  a  steam  lighter  which  transported  us  to  the 
steamship  "North  America."  I  was  fortunate  in  se 
curing  good  accommodations.  This  steamer,  like  the 
"Ocean  Queen"  was  an  old  wooden  hull,  which  I  was 
informed  had  been  brought  around  the  "Horn"  from  the 
Great  Lakes.  The  whole  after-part  of  the  upper  deck  was 
hung  with  bunches  of  bananas,  over  which  were  stretcned 
awnings  to  protect  the  fruit  from  the  sun. 

The  next  morning  we  started  on  our  voyage  to  San 
Francisco.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  trip,  occupying 
fourteen  days.  The  sea  was  very  smooth  all  the  way, 
and  we  were  in  sight  of  the  land  most  of  the  time.  We 
often  saw  whales  sporting  in  the  distance,  which  excited 
the  interest  of  all ;  also  the  porpoise  following  the  ship 
was  a  novel  sight. 

Upon  arriving  at  Acapulco,  Mexico,  our  ship  entered 
the  harbor  in  order  to  coal.  This  coal  was  carried  in 
sacks  aboard  the  ship  on  the  backs  of  the  natives.  During 
our  stay  in  this  port,  many  of  the  passengers  amused 
themselves  by  throwing  coins  into  the  water  and  watch 
ing  the  natives  dive  for  them.  The  water  was  clear  and 
deep,  and  the  divers  invariably  got  the  coin.  When  the 
steamer  had  received  the  necessary  quantity  of  coal  she 
proceeded  on  her  way.  After  reaching  the  latitude  of 
Lower  California  we  were  most  of  the  time  in  sight  of 
the  coast,  which  was  of  a  dark  brown  color.  This  was 


76  REMINISCENCES 

caused  some  said,  by  the  hue  of  ripened  wild  oats,  the 
straw  of  which  in  drying  assumed  that  color. 

At  the  end  of  fourteen  days  from  Panama  we  steamed 
through  the  Golden  Gate,  past  Fort  Alcatraz,  into  the 
Bay  of  San  Francisco,  and  I  had  then  my  first  view  of 
the  city  of  that  name.  I  landed  and  went  to  a  hotel, 
then  proceeded  to  look  up  two  acquaintances  from  Osh- 
kosh,  whom  I  knew  to  be  living  here.  One  had  been  a 
dry  goods  merchant  when  in  Wisconsin  and  was  a  lover 
of  fast  trotters.  The  other  gentleman  had  been  a  law 
yer  in  Oshkosh.  I  found  them  located  in  what  was 
known  as  Montgomery  Block,  an  office  building  occu 
pied  largely  by  lawyers.  Mr.  McCracken  was  en 
gaged,  as  far  as  I  could  judge,  in  getting  contracts  from 
the  city  for  paving  the  streets,  and  Mr.  Lane  was  prac 
ticing  his  profession. 

I  thought  I  would  stay  awhile  in  San  Francisco, 
thinking  that  by  so  doing  I  could  better  choose  a  loca 
tion  in  the  interior  in  which  to  practice  law. 

I  found  that  in  the  forenoon  of  each  day  a  cold,  raw 
wind  prevailed  in  the  city ;  furs  for  the  ladies  and  over 
coats  for  men  were  comfortable,  but  at  sunset  the  wind 
died  down,  and  the  evenings  were  delicious,  reminding 
me  of  what  I  had  read  of  oriental  countries.  There  were 
many  places  of  amusement  not  of  a  high  order,  but  on  a 
par  with  the  tastes  of  the  inhabitants.  Montgomery 
street  lay  at  the  bottom  of  a  hill  and  ran  from  Market 
Street  to  Telegraph  Hill.  A  few  streets  were  built 
parallel  to  Montgomery  Street  and  west  of  it  on  the 
hill  was  Kearney  Street,  then  as  now  it  was  the  center  of 
Chinatown.  The  business  part  of  the  city  was  between 
Montgomery  Street  and  the  Bay.  The  shoal  water  on 
the  bay  shore  had  been  filled  in  with  ballast  brought 


WESTWARD,    HO!  77 

by  ships,  and  sand  hauled  from  the  hills,  until  quite  a 
city  had  been  built  on  made  ground.  I  recollect  one 
place  where  a  ship  had  been  stranded,  and  there  were 
several  streets  between  it  and  the  Bay.  Market  Street 
was  a  bed  of  bottomless  sand.  A  street  railway  had  been 
built  three  or  four  miles  to  a  place  called  Mission  Dol 
ores,  the  site  of  an  old  Spanish  Church.  JSTear  this  had 
been  erected  a  woolen  mill,  where  very  heavy  and  warm 
blankets  were  woven  for  miners.  I  remember  buying  one 
for  myself  that  weighed  eleven  pounds.  They  were 
about  the  warmest  blanket  I  ever  saw — just  what  the 
average  C'alifornian  and  tenderfoot  needed. 

Near  this  mill  was  erected  a  rough  theater,  in  which 
Billy  Birch  and  Ben  Cotton,  with  other  cork 
artists,  delighted  large  audiences  every  Sunday.  A 
street  railway  being  the  means  of  transportation,  mules 
were  very  busy  on  Sundays  hauling  passengers  to  and 
from  the  Mission  and  the  city. 

Most  emigrants  to  California  in  those  days  came  by 
the  way  of  Panama.  The  overland  stage  route  had 
been  established,  but  the  latter  was  a  long  and  tiresome 
journey.  "Frisco"  was  a  mecca  for  miners  who  de 
sired  amusement  and  a  good  time. 

After  I  had  been  domiciled  in  this  city  about  a  month, 
I  saw  an  advertisement  in  a  San  Francisco  paper  which 
read  as  follows : — 

"Wanted — A  man  to  go  to  Reese  River  to  build  a 
saw  mill,  and  take  charge  of  it," 

If  I  could  secure  such  a  position  it  would  mean  an 
immediate  income.  I  told  Mr.  McCraken  that  I  was 
inclined  to  answer  the  advertisement,  and  asked  him  if 
they  \vould  pay  me  $100  per  month.  He  replied:  "You 
ask  $100  per  month  and  you  won't  get  the  job.  They 


78  REMINISCENCES 

will  be  certain  that  you  do  not  understand  the  busi 
ness."  He  advised  me  to  ask  not  less  than  $300  per 
month.  I  began  then  to  wake  up  a  little  to  the  opportuni 
ties  of  that  country.  I  answered  the  advertisement,  was 
well  received  and  the  opening  appeared  satisfactory.  I 
engaged  at  the  salary  I  asked:  $300,  having  a  written 
contract  with  Mr.  Mathewson,  who  was  the  agent  of  the 
company.  I  was  informed  that  John  Parrott,  banker, 
Frank  Billings,  afterwards  President  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway  Co.,  and  the  agent  of  the  company,  Mr. 
Mathewson,  who  had  been  editor  of  the  Alta  California, 
published  in  San  Francisco,  also  the  collector  of  the  port, 
were  members  of  this  company ;  so  I  was  satisfied  that 
there  was  ample  capital  behind  the  project.  I  was 
authorized  to  order  and  have  built  in  San  Francisco, 
the  machinery  for  a  sawmill  and  to  buy  whatever  was 
necessary  for  the  purpose,  including  food  for  myself  and 
men,  and  tools  to  operate  the  business.  The  company 
claimed  to  have  about  two  thousand  acres  of  timber 
land,  which  Mathewson  assured  me  was  covered  with 
trees  averaging  two  feet  in  diameter.  It  was  necessary 
to  have  all  the  machinery  built;  none  of  it  was  to  be 
found  for  sale  in  San  Francisco.  In  order  to  know 
how  much  and  what  kind  of  food  would  be  required,  I 
obtained  a  list  of  rations  furnished  by  the  government 
to  its  soldiers,  and  from  this  I  made  my  calculations 
as  to  the  food  that  would  be  needed.  I  was  instructed 
to  purchase  everything  that  would  be  required  to  oper 
ate  the  mill  after  it  was  built;  for  the  cutting  of  logs 
and  their  hauling  to  the  mill.  It  took  solne  two  months 
to  get  everything  ready  for  our  departure  for  Austin, 
Nevada,  which  is  on  the  Reese  River,  and  was  our 
objective  point.  Mathewson  informed  me  that  they  had 


WESTWAED,    HO!  79 

contracted  with  a  transportation  company  to  deliver  the 
machinery  and  supplies  to  whatever  mill  site  I  should 
select,  and  that  they  were  to  pay  ten  cents  per  pound 
freight  on  same.  I  decided  to  take  an  engineer  with 
me,  as  I  might  not  be  able  to  find  one  at  our  destination ; 
so  I  wrote  to  Frank  Drake  at  Mare  Island  offering  him 
the  place,  which  he  gladly  accepted. 

The  company  procured  us  passage  to  our  destination, 
and  we  embarked  at  San  Francisco  on  the  steamer 
Yosemite  for  Sacramento.  I  have  a  vivid  memory 
of  that  trip,  of  our  steaming  across  the  bay,  past  the 
islands  and  up  the  river.  I  sat  up  late  in  the  evening 
charmed  with  the  moonlight,  and  the  beautiful  scenery, 
then  went  to  my  berth,  awaking  the  next  morning  at 
Sacramento.  That  day  we  went  by  railroad  to  Placer- 
ville,  about  fifteen  miles  distant  in  the  foothills  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  mountains.  In  the  early  days  of  Cali 
fornia  mining,  this  place  was  known  as  "Hangtown," 
owing  to  the  numerous  lynchings  that  had  occurred 
there.  It  was  the  terminus  of  the  overland  stage  route. 
I  remember  that  this  place  was  composed  of  wooden 
buildings,  scattered  through  a  ravine  or  canyon.  The 
country  between  Sacramento  and  Placerville  had  all 
been  dug  over  in  the  early  fifties  by  miners,  and 
"rocked"  in  miner's  cradles,  and  later  had  been  re- 
washed  by  Chinamen. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  this  place,  we  were  immediately 
transferred  to  stage  coaches  which  were  of  the  old  Con 
cord  build,  the  body  suspended  on  heavy,  wide,  leather 
straps,  or  thorough-braces.  They  would  accommodate 
nine  passengers  inside,  and  two  on  the  outside  with  the 
driver  and  each  was  hauled  by  six  fine  horses.  These 
stage  horses  were  usually  brought  from  the  states  of 


80  REMINISCENCES 

Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Missouri.  It  was  the  custom 
to  change  the  horses  every  ten  miles. 

We  then  began  the  ascent  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains,  which  we  had  to  cross  in  order  to  reach  Car 
son  Valley.  The  roads  up  the  grade  were  broad,  smooth 
and  sprinkled  by  water  carts.  In  many  places  the  roads 
were  cut  in  solid  rock,  on  the  sides  of  the  mountains, 
traversing  the  canyon.  At  the  bottom  flowed  the 
American  River.  When  we  got  into  the  coach,  I  took 
the  front  seat,  riding  backwards,  as  I  had  been  told  that 
it  was  the  easiest.  The  hostlers  let  go  the  bridles  of  the 
horses  and  we  went  up  the  grade  at  a  smart  trot.  The 
road  had  been  laid  out  by  engineers,  and  the  grade  kept 
as  true  as  possible ;  sharp  angles  were  often  met  and  had 
to  be  turned,  and  sometimes  the  road  would  follow  an 
intersecting  ravine,  going  up  one  side,  and  back  on  the 
other  for  perhaps  half  a  mile  or  more. 

At  one  station,  where  we  stopped,  I  saw  the  smoke  of 
a  sawmill  near  by.  As  I  had  a  curiosity  to  see  the  mill, 
and  supposing  that  the  stage  was  to  wait  for  a  change  of 
horses,  which  would  give  me  sufficient  time,  I  went  to  it, 
then  hurried  back  only  to  find  that  the  coach  had  gone. 
I  looked  down  the  road  and  saw  it  in  a  whirl  of  dust, 
leaving  me.  I  followed  my  first  impulse  to  try  and 
overtake  it,  I  more  than  ran,  I  flew.  I  gained  on 
it  rapidly,  but  the  driver  did  not  stop  for  me.  After 
running  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  some  of  the  passengers  saw 
me  and  called  the  driver's  attention  to  my  struggles  to 
overtake  them.  The  driver  motioned  toward  the  other 
side  of  the  ravine,  indicating  that  I  should  cross  over 
and  head  off  the  coach.  I  went  to  the  bottom,  but  in 
attempting  to  climb  up  the  other  side  my  legs  would 
not  work — they  were  paralyzed.  However,  with  the  aid 


WESTWARD,    HO!  81 

of  my  hands  I  managed  to  haul  myself  up  to  the  road, 
very  much  exhausted  and  out  of  breath.  When  the  stage 
arrived  I  was  helped  in,  and  a  sympathizing  passenger 
handed  me  a  flask  of  whiskey  with  an  injunction  to  take 
a  deep  drink ;  that  it  would  revive  me.  I  did  as  directed, 
but  the  liquor  caused  a  serious  nausea ;  when  the  result 
of  this  was  over,  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  was  practically 
empty. 

The  schedule  of  these  stages  over  the  mountains  was 
an  average  of  ten  miles  an  hour.  We  met  and  passed 
numerous  freight  wagons,  many  of  which  carried  ten 
tons  each.  Behind  the  larger  wagon  would  be  a  smaller 
one  called  a  tender,  which  carried  the  food  and  camp  out 
fit  for  the  drivers  and  barley  and  hay  for  the  mules. 
These  wagons  were  usually  hauled  by  twelve  or  fourteen 
mules,  also  brought  from  the  states  mentioned. 

We  steadily  climbed  the  mountains,  reaching  a  meal 
station  where  we  stopped  for  supper,  and  a  change  of 
horses,  then  proceeded  on  our  journey. 

In  coming  up  the  American  River  I  noticed  that  the 
road  was  cut  in  solid  rock  on  the  steep  mountain  side. 
Looking  over  the  edge  of  that  trail  one  could  see  the 
river,  one  thousand  or  more  feet  below,  running  in  a 
torrent.  If  a  coach  should  chance  to  tip  over  the  edge 
of  the  cliff  nothing  but  the  tall  majestic  pine  trees, 
which  grew  on  the  side  of  the  canyon,  would  break  its 
fall  before  it  reached  the  river. 

It  was  some  time  after  midnight,  about  two  or  three 
o'clock,  when  we  entered  what  was  called  Strawberry 
Valley ;  a  canyon  on  the  western  slope  of  the  mountains, 
perhaps  ten  miles  from  the  summit.  This  is  one  of  the 
grandest  views  that  I  have  ever  seen.  I  should  judge 
it  to  be  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  width  where  the  stage 


82  BEMINISCENCES 

road  passed.  On  one  side  of  this  level  valley  rose  granite 
walls  said  to  be  a  thousand  feet  high.  They  appeared 
to  be  perpendicular.  In  this  valley  grew  almost  exclu 
sively  what  are  known  as  the  sugar  pine.  These  were 
from  one  to  two  hundred  feet  in  height  and  from  two  to 
five  feet  in  diameter.  The  moon  shone  very  brightly  as 
we  rode  through  this  most  attractive  scene. 

We  passed  to  the  south  side  of  Lake  Tahoe.  It  lies 
over  six  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean.  As  I 
recall  it,  the  entire  scene  was  very  picturesque.  This 
spot  has  since  become  a  favorite  summer  resort.  The 
lake  is  about  twenty-two  by  thirteen  miles  in  area.  The 
water  was  very  clear  and  cold.  Mark  Twain  describes 
it  as  "A  sea  in  the  clouds,  whose  royal  seclusion  is 
guarded  by  a  cordon  of  sentinel  peaks,  that  lift  their 
frosty  fronts,  9000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  world." 
I  have  wished  many  times  to  travel  over  this  route  again, 
but  I  do  not  know  whether  there  is  now  such  a  stage  line 
through  the  canyon,  and  if  there  were,  whether  the 
charm  would  be  the  same. 

The  following  morning  we  reached  Carson  City, 
where  we  took  breakfast.  Our  ride  from  Lake  Tahoe 
down  the  mountain  was  very  exciting,  and  rapid,  the 
horses  sometimes  running.  Carson  City  at  that  time 
was  the  capital  of  the  territory  of  Nevada.  The  United 
States  government  maintained  an  assay  office  there.  It 
was  a  sandy  valley  with  plenty  of  alkali  dust,  through 
which  runs  the  Carson  River.  The  town  as  I  recollect, 
is  situated  about  twelve  miles  from  Virginia  City.  There 
I  was  to  meet  Dr.  Mathewson. 

This  city  is  built  on  the  side  of  Mt.  Davidson,  the 
mountain  which  contains  the  famous  Comstock  Lode.  So 
far  as  I  know  it  is  the  richest  ever  yet  discovered  in  the 


WESTWARD,    HO!  83 

world.  At  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  this 
mine  was  at  the  height  of  its  "Big  Bonanza"  fame,  but 
the  tide  of  immigration  to  California  and  the  west  had 
begun  to  ebb  and  was  flowing  back  over  the  mountains 
towards  the  east.  The  first  discoveries  in  the  Corn- 
stock  were  of  gold,  but  the  deeper  the  vein  was  dug,  more 
silver  was  found  and  less  gold.  The  method  of  extract 
ing  silver  from  the  quartz  at  that  time  was  very  crude, 
and  much  of  the  silver  was  lost  in  the  process.  Since 
then,  methods  have  been  invented  which  save  most  of  it. 
It  is  estimated  that  up  to  this  date,  six  hundred  million 
dollars  in  gold  had  been  reclaimed  from  the  placer  dig 
gings  of  California.  But  this  vast  sum  had  been  wrested 
from  the  earth  by  a  great  cost  in  labor.  To  quote  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Fitch,  of  Nevada :  "Over  fifty  thousand  of 
the  brightest,  bravest,  most  generous,  energetic,  and 
enterprising  men  on  the  earth;  the  knight  Paladins 
who  challenged  the  brute  forces  of  Nature  to  combat; 
the  soldiers  who,  possessed  with  the  aura  sacra  fames, 
faced  the  storm  and  the  savage,  the  desert,  and  disease, 
swarmed  around  the  base  of  Mt.  Davidson,  and  reached 
out  to  Aurora,  to  the  Reese  River  and  to  the  mountains 
of  the  Humboldt." 

Virginia  City  was  reputed  to  have  a  population  then 
of  twenty-five  thousand,  consisting  mostly  of  men,  for 
women  and  children  were  few.  Saloons  were  numerous. 
I  remember  entering  one  of  the  latter,  where  the  fur 
nishings  were  stated  to  have  cost  $30,000.  The  build 
ings  were  principally  of  brick  and  adobe,  though  lumber 
was  brought  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  some 
twenty  miles  distant,  and  hauled  to  the  city  by  ox  teams 
and  wagons.  The  water  was  very  bad  for  drinking  pur 
poses,  there  being  in  it  a  large  amount  of  mineral  sul> 


84:  REMINISCENCES 

stances  in  solution  and  alkali,  but — I  think  there  was  not 
much  of  it  drank !  The  speculation  in  mines  and  gam 
bling  was  furious.  Many  of  the  secrets  of  the  lode  known 
to  the  miners  were  disclosed  to  the  owners  of  the  saloons, 
making  the  latter  bonanza  capitalists.  Prospectors  had 
searched  the  mountains  east  of  Virginia  City,  and  many 
mines  rivaling  the  Comstock  had  been  discovered. 

Dr.  Mathewson  and  I  made  a  journey  to  the  foot 
hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  to  a  town  named 
Galena.  We  passed  through  a  place  called  Steamboat 
Springs,  named,  I  suppose,  because  of  the  steam  issuing 
from  the  water,  which  resembled  the  exhaust  from  a 
steamboat,  A  story  was  told  me,  that  in  earlier  days  a 
party  of  immigrants  camped  for  the  night  in  this  vicin 
ity.  One  of  the  party,  hearing  a  strange  noise,  went  to 
the  spring  to  discover  the  cause,  then  hurrying  back  to 
the  camp  exclaimed:  "Boys,  hitch  up  and  get  out  of 
here ;  we  are  right  over  hell."  I  did  not  see  the  springs 
myself,  but  presume  that  they  are  much  like  those  I 
have  seen  in  Yellowstone  Park. 

In  coming  back  that  night  we  took  a  more  direct  road, 
which  led  over  Mt.  Davidson ;  a  fine  road,  built  for  haul 
ing  ore  to  the  quartz  mills.  Now  they  do  this  different 
ly.  The  quartz  is  smelted  in  furnaces,  the  metal  then 
separated,  and  practically  all  saved. 

After  reaching  the  summit  of  the  road,  it  being  a 
bright  moonlight  night,  we  came  down  the  grade  to  the 
city  at  a  lively  trot ;  we  had  a  fine  span  of  horses  and  an 
open  buggy.  It  was  ten  o'clock  when  we  reached  our 
hotel. 

Claims  were  made  on  the  ledge  in  feet  at  that  time. 
One  man,  according  to  mining  laws,  could  pre-empt  only 
two  hundred  feet.  At  the  time  of  which  I  write  the 


WESTWARD,    HO!  85 

Gould  and  Curry  mine  was  selling  at  $4,000  per  foot, 
and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  it  was  1,200  feet  long.  The 
leading  paper  in  this  mining  city  was  the  Territorial 
Enterprise,  a  wide-awake  daily  paper.  Mark  Twain 
was  city  editor ;  he  gave  evidence  then  of  his  great  wit, 
and  during  those  days  published  some  things  in  the  paper 
as  bright  as  he  has  ever  written  since. 

From  here  we  took  the  overland  stage  for  Austin,  our 
destination.  The  outfit  was  about  the  same  as  that  with 
which  we  had  crossed  the  mountains.  If  I  remember 
rightly,  the  distance  was  about  250  miles,  and  the  time 
thirty-six  to  forty-eight  hours.  The  stage  road  was  most 
ly  through  alkali  plains,  the  sand  being  very  deep  and 
heavy,  and  the  ride  tiresome  and  uninteresting.  Austin 
at  that  time  claimed  a  population  of  5,000.  Silver  was 
discovered  there  in  March  that  year.  It  was  a  motley 
looking  town,  consisting  of  tents  and  huts  of  adobe  and 
stone.  I  think  the  hotel  was  called  the  International. 
It  was  a  structure  two  stories  high.  The  town  was  built 
in  a  ravine,  or  canyon,  lying  between  Mt.  Prometheus 
on  the  south  and  another  mountain  not  so  high  on  the 
north.  Here  I  found  Frank  Drake,  the  engineer,  and 
after  getting  our  bearings  we  started  out  under  the  lead 
of  Dr.  Mathewson  to  see  the  pine  land.  We  found  it  on 
the  west  side  of  the  mountain  range,  about  half  way  be 
tween  Austin  and  Big  Creek,  some  twelve  miles  dis 
tant. 

The  first  thing  was  to  find  a  location  for  the  mill. 
Water  being  a  necessity,  we  tramped  through  the  sage 
brush  on  the  foot-hills  for  some  time,  but  all  indications 
showed  that  there  was  none  in  the  vicinity.  Finally, 
Drake  told  me  that  if  I  would  not  laugh  at  him  that  he 
would  find  water,  sure.  I  replied  that  I  would  not  even 


86  REMINISCENCES 

smile,  to  go  ahead.  So  he  cut  a  forked  twig  out  of  some 
brush,  and  held  the  two  branches,  one  in  each  hand,  the 
stem  being  upright,  and  he  walked  about  where  he 
thought  there  might  be  water.  Owing,  likely  to  some 
mis-step  or  muscular  movement,  the  fork  of  the  twig 
fell  down  towards  the  ground  at  a  certain  place.  He  re 
peated  the  experiment  from  several  directions,  and 
when  he  reached  the  same  spot  the  twig  fell  each  time. 
"Dig  down  here  fifteen  feet  and  you  will  find  water," 
he  said.  I  could  see  no  reason  why  we  were  not  just  as 
likely  to  find  water  there  as  at  any  other  point,  so  we 
began  to  dig.  We  made  a  windlass  out  of  some  of  the 
growing  timber,  and  after  going  so  low  that  the  laborer 
could  not  throw  the  dirt  out  of  the  top  we  set  up  a  wind 
lass  and  used  a  rope  and  basket.  The  digging  continued 
until  I  feared  a  cave-in,  and  I  concluded  that  after  all 
the  best  thing  was  to  go  to  Big  Creek,  where  we  were 
sure  of  plenty  of  water.  I  became  convinced  we  would 
find  no  water  here  with  such  appliances  as  we  had.  So 
we  went  over  to  Big  Creek 'and  set  up  our  house,  which 
was  a  walled  tent  7x9  feet.  This  was  to  be  our  home 
until  the  mill  should  be  completed  and  lumber  sawed 
with  which  to  build  the  real  house.  The  first  work  in 
our  enterprise  was  to  cut  logs,  from  which  to  make  tim 
ber,  and  I  climbed  the  mountain  side,  where  I  could 
inspect  the  trees.  I  was  much  surprised  and  disheart 
ened;  the  largest  log  I  could  find  would  only  make  an 
8x10,  sixteen  feet  long.  I  reported  the  situation  to 
Dr.  Mathewson,  and  he  did  not  seem  much  surprised, 
only  saying  that  we  must  go  ahead  and  put  up  the  mill. 
We  had  brought  no  "fire"  or  other  brick  with  us  to  set 
up  the  boiler;  some  stones  found  in  the  mountain  were 
represented  to  be  fire-proof,  so  I  employed  an  ox  team 


WESTWARD,    HO!  87 

to  haul  some  to  the  mill  site,  with  which  I  lined  the 
furnace  under  the  boiler.  For  these  teams  I  think  I 
paid  $15  per  day.  I  had  to  pay  $11  per  day  for  masons, 
$5  for  laborers,  and  eight  or  ten  dollars  per  day  for 
carpenters.  We  set  posts  in  the  ground  upon  which  to 
fix  the  foundation  for  the  mill,  and  I  had  a  well-hole 
dug,  filling  it  with  water  from  the  creek. 

We  were  all  without  experience  in  hewing  timber, 
but  I  took  hold  of  the  broad  axe  and  succeeded  tolerably 
well  until  one  day  I  had  the  misfortune  to  split  my 
big  toe  open;  this  laid  me  up  for  a  short  time.  I  set 
the  engine  up  on  a  wooden  frame,  and  I  think  that  in 
December  we  sawed  the  first  board.  Then  we  sawed 
lumber  for  a  house  and  built  that.  This  pinon  pine 
was  a  soft,  light  wood.  If  one  took  a  board  of  it  and 
laid  it  in  the  sun,  without  putting  a  weight  on  it,  the 
board  would  nearly  tie  itself  into  a  knot.  Notwith 
standing  the  high  price  of  labor  and  of  materials,  I 
got  the  mill  running  at  an  expense  of  $2,500,  not  count 
ing  the  engineer's  wages  and  my  salary.  After  getting 
the  mill  in  working  order  I  made  timber  by  nailing 
boards  together  and  with  such  timber  put  the  mill  under 
cover.  At  first  we  sold  lumber  for  about  $200  per 
thousand  feet. 

I  was  in  the  habit  of  going  into  Austin  on  Sundays 
to  spend  the  day  with  Dr.  Mathewson.  We  were  com 
ing  out  to  the  mill  one  Monday  morning  together,  when 
he  outlined  a  plan  by  which  we  two  combining,  could 
get  hold  of  the  mill  at  the  expense  of  the  company  that 
had  furnished  the  money  with  which  to  build  it  I 
listened  to  his  plan,  until  sure  I  had  not  mistaken  his 
intentions,  then  said  to  him :  "Doctor,  these  men  have 
hired  me,  paid  what  I  asked,  and  so  far  as  I  know  have 


88  REMINISCENCES 

treated  me  well,  and  I  shall  be  true  to  them  as  long  as 
I  am  in  their  employ."  His  answer  was:  "I  think 
when  a  man  has  a  chance  to  make  a  lot  of  money,  and 
refuses,  that  he  is  a  fool."  I  replied :  "That  may  be, 
but  I  will  not  cheat  those  men."  He  rode  on  in  silence, 
but  from  that  time  I  knew  my  man.  Nothing  more 
was  said  about  the  matter  between  us  and  I  thought  he 
had  given  up  his  scheme. 

One  Sunday,  in  Spring,  a  number  of  the  men  went 
into  town,  and  as  usual,  some  of  us  went  up  to  the 
doctor's  to  dine  with  him.  There  I  was  introduced  to 
a  stranger,  a  Mr.  Merrill,  from  Maine.  As  we  were  com 
ing  back  from  the  mill  one  of  the  boys  who  worked 
for  me  asked  if  I  knew  why  Mr.  Merrill  had  come 
here.  I  replied  that  I  had  no  idea ;  then  he  said :  "If 
you  won't  give  me  away,  I  will  tell  you  what  he  is 
here  for."  I  replied  that  I  would  not  give  him  away. 
"Well,"  he  said,  "he  has  come  here  to  take  your  place." 
I  was  completely  taken  by  surprise,  but  had  plenty  of 
time  for  thought. 

The  next  morning  Mr.  Merrill  and  the  doctor  rode 
out  to  the  mill.  I  met  them  very  cordially,  showed  Mr. 
Merrill  over  the  plant,  told  him  of  the  difficulties  I  had 
had  to  encounter  there,  the  length  of  time  occupied  in 
building  the  mill  and  the  amount  of  money  I  had  ex 
pended  in  doing  it.  He  appeared  to  be  a  very  fair 
man  and  complimented  me  highly  on  my  work.  I 
thanked  him,  then  said :  "I  understand  you  have  come 
here  to  take  my  place.  I  will  say  to  you  that  I  am  un 
der  written  contract  with  the  owners  to  take  charge  of 
this  mill  and  run  it,  and  that  I  will  not  permit  any 
man  to  replace  me  until  the  year  is  up.  If  the  company 
is  willing  to  pay  my  salary  for  the  year  and  give  a 


WESTWARD,    HO!  89 

written  release  from  the  contract,  I  don't  care  what 
they  do  with  the  plant ;  but  if  any  man  comes  here  and 
attempts  to  supercede  me  by  force — well,  I  advise  him 
to  get  his  life  insured  before  he  attempts  it." 

Mr.  Merrill  and  the  doctor  rode  back  to  Austin  and 
that  was  the  last  I  heard  of  the  subject. 

The  territorial  legislature  passed  a  law  that  a  person 
could  have  title  to  any  unoccupied  piece  of  land  which 
he  would  have  surveyed  and  file  map  of  same  in  the 
county  records,  I  complied  with  the  law  and  located 
three  hundred  acres  one-half  mile  below  the  mill. 

I  had  considerable  unpleasantness  with  Drake,  the 
engineer.  When  planning  the  machinery  I  had  calcu 
lated  the  engine  to  run  150  revolutions  per  minute. 
Dtrake  argued  that  such  speed  was  too  fast. 

To  settle  the  contention  I  had  to  tell  him  that  I  would 
assume  the  responsibility,  and  that  he  must  run  the  en 
gine  at  the  speed  I  had  planned  or  I  would  discharge 
him. 

Just  before  my  time  expired  Dr.  Mathewson  wanted 
me  to  make  an  offer  to  run  the  mill  another  year,  say 
ing  that  the  company  was  going  to  put  up  a  quartz  mill 
near  the  sawmill,  but  I  refused.  When  my  time  was 
up  Dr.  Mathewson  gave  me  a  draft  on  San  Francisco 
for  my  due,  some  $1,200. 

The  locations  of  fissure  veins  were  innumerable,  but 
they  were  all  thin  in  this  locality.  I  knew  of  one  vein 
that  was  being  worked  above  Austin  by  a  Dr.  Good- 
fellow,  which  was  only  two  inches  thick,  but  the  ore 
would  assay  $3,000  to  the  ton.  I  think  half  a  dozen 
stamp  mills  were  erected  that  summer  within  ten  miles 
of  Austin.  So  far  as  I  know  none  of  them  ever  paid 
any  dividends  to  their  builders. 


90  REMINISCENCES 

In  the  fall  of  1864  I  occupied  a  room  in  a  livery 
stable  in  Austin  with  the  owner.  He  kept  saddle  horses 
for  hire,  and  his  mow  of  baled  hay  was  a  favorite  place 
for  immigrants  to  sleep.  I  have  seen  sleeping  there 
ex-governors  from  the  states,  ex-congressmen,  sen 
ators;  all  coming  to  this  new  territory  to  grow  up  with 
it  and  get  new  political  jobs.  I  will  say  in  regard  to 
the  people  in  this  section  that  the  average  of  education 
and  intelligence  was  higher  than  that  of  any  other 
community  I  had  ever  known,  though  a  mining  popu 
lation  is  not  usually  supposed  to  be  highly  educated. 
I  learned  while  in  that  country  to  have  respect  for 
"Judge  Lynch,"  and  had  my  respect  lessened  for 
"Judge  Law."  We  had  several  shooting  scrapes  in 
town;  they  occurred  frequently.  One  thing  I  noticed 
as  distinguishing  the  bad  man  of  the  south  from  the 
bad  man  of  the  north:  the  latter  gave  his  victim  a 
chance  for  his  life;  he  would  not  shoot  an  unarmed 
man,  but  the  former  would  get  the  drop  on  his  vic 
tim  and  give  him  no  chance  for  defense.  There  were 
plenty  of  bad  men  from  both  sections. 

When  I  left  Chicago  to  go  to  California  I  bought  a 
Colt's  revolver  and  etrapped  it  to  my  hip;  I  thought 
this  a  necessary  precaution,  but  at  the  time  of  which 
I  write  I  had  found  it  was  not,  and  I  had  traded  my 
revolver  for  "feet"  in  a  mine. 

The  Indians  east  of  Salt  Lake  were  interrupting  the 
stage  line  about  this  time  and  my  correspondence  with 
my  wife  was  very  much  interfered  with  on  this  ac 
count.  She  became  much  worried  and  I  also  was  quite 
anxious  about  it.  One  day  when  in  the  post  office  I 
asked  the  assistant  postmaster  if  he  had  learned 
whether  or  not  the  mail  had  succeeded  in  reaching  the 


WESTWARD,    HO!  91 

east,  whether  the  blockade  had  been  removed.  He  ex 
pressed  ignorance  in  regard  to  the  matter,  and  I  took 
occasion  to  say  that  I  was  worried  about  it,  as  I  had 
been  pending  money  in  every  letter  to  my  wife.  About 
two  months  afterwards  this  assistant  postmaster  was 
appointed  comptroller  of  the  state  of  Nevada.  From 
the  time  I  spoke  to  him  till  he  received  that  appoint 
ment  my  wife  never  received  a  letter  from  me,  but 
eventually  all  the  letters  written  prior  to  that  time,  and 
all  written  after  his  appointment  as  stated,  reached  their 
destination.  The  fellow  was  an  ex- Wells  &  Fargo  ex 
press  agent,  which  company  carried  and  delivered  mail 
over  all  the  Pacific  coast,  wherever  their  express  routes 
ran.  Letters  had  to  bear  the  United  States  stamp  and 
also  a  Wells  &  Fargo  stamp.  The  express  company 
ran  a  messenger  and  treasure  box  over  every  route 
traversed  by  the  company,  and  this  was  over  the  whole 
Pacific  coast.  Its  service  was  more  certain  than  that 
of  the  U.  S.  mail,  and  was  patronized  by  most  business 
men. 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

LIFE  IN  NEVADA. 

In  the  winter  of  1864-5  General  Rosecranz  appeared 
in  Austin;  he  was  connected  with  some  mining  inter 
est.  A  brother  of  Frank  Drake  had  a  book  store  and 
news  depot  which  was  a  great  resort  for  "the  boys;" 
they  came  there  to  get  their  papers  and  to  gossip  in 
the  evening.  The  General  formed  the  habit  of  coming 
there  also  to  chat  with  the  others.  He  was  a  fine  look 
ing  man  and  a  good  story  teller;  he  entertained  us 
greatly  by  telling  anecdotes  of  the  war,  in  which  he  had 
been  so  prominent  a  character.  One  night  I  said  to 
him :  "General,  how  about  Chickamauga  1"  He 
queried :  "What  about  Chickamauga  ?"  "Well,  sir," 
I  said,  "the  papers  out  here  reported  that  you  were 
badly  whipped  there."  He  replied:  "That  was  not 
so";  claimed  that  he  defeated  the  enemy  there  and 
gained  a  great  victory.  He  also  claimed  that  the  treach 
ery  of  General  Garfield  caused  his  downfall.  The  lat 
ter  was  his  chief  of  staff.  Rosecranz  sent  him  to  Wash 
ington  to  attend  to  some  affairs  of  the  army  that  could 
not  be  well  and  safely  transacted  by  letter,  and  claimed 
that  Garfield,  instead  of  representing  matters  as  they 
were,  misrepresented  them,  and  came  back  with  his 
(Rosecranz's)  removal  in  his  pocket.  "Old  Rosy"  said 
that  if  he  had  known  the  facts  at  the  time  he  might 
have  ordered  Garfield  tried  by  a  drum-head  court  mar 
tial  and  shot.  A  number  of  years  later  I  remember 

92 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  93 

reading  an  authorized  account  in  the  newspapers  which 
confirmed  this  story  as  General  Rosecranz  had  told  it. 
That  winter  I  had  become  acquainted  with  a  Cap 
tain  Johnston,  an  Irishman,  who  claimed  to  have  been 
a  captain  in  the  English  army.  According  to  his  own 
statement  he  was  a  dangerous  duellist;  I  thought  him 
a  good  deal  of  a  braggart,  but  he  amused  me,  in  a  meas 
ure.  A  Captain  Kent  was  superintendent  of  the  Key 
stone  Mining  Company,  and  had  bought  a  mine  of 
Captain  Johnston,  for  which  he  was  to  pay  at  some  fu 
ture  time;  I  think  it  was  to  be  when  he  could  report 
to  his  principals  in  Pennsylvania  and  get  remittances 
from  them.  I  judge  finances  were  at  a  rather  low  ebb 
with  Captain  Johnston,  any  way.  He  made  a  demand 
on  Captain  Kent  for  his  pay,  and  that  gentleman  re 
plied  that  he  had  not  yet  received  the  money.  Captain 
Johnston  did  not  believe  him,  and  one  day  he  appealed 
to  me  to  act  as  his  second  in  a  duel.  This  was  new  busi 
ness  to  me,  but  I  thought  there  might  be  some  fun  in 
it,  and  after  some  palavering,  consented.  I  told  my 
principal  that  in  the  first  place  he  would  have  to  chal 
lenge  his  man,  which  he  did,  while  we  all  waited  for 
the  fun  to  begin.  The  next  day,  I  think  it  was,  General 
Rosecranz  met  Captain  Johnston  on  the  main  street. 
The  latter  was  pointed  out  to  him,  and  the  General  im 
mediately  turned  on  him,  with  a  military  air  that  would 
have  intimidated  almost  anyone,  and  said:  "Captain 

Johnston,  what  is  this  you  are  making  a  d fool  of 

yourself  about?"  The  latter  in  a  pleading  manner 
went  on  to  relate  his  supposed  injuries.  The  General 
replied  that  he  knew  all  about  the  transaction ;  that  his 
supposed  enemy  was  acting  in  good  faith,  and  that  he 


94  BEMINISCESTCES 

would  get  his  money  in  due  time.  Immediately  the 
roaring  lion  became  a  lamb. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  I  bought  a  mine  from  a  Mr.  Hun 
ter.  It  was  a  claim  named  after  himself  and  was 
located  on  the  top  of  Mt.  Prometheus,  about  one  mile 
from  where  I  lived  in  Austin,  and  was  about  one  thou 
sand  feet  higher  than  that  point.  I  used  to  go  there 
every  day  and  work,  sinking  an  incline  on  the  vein. 
When  I  first  began  walking  up  the  trail  to  the  mine, 
and  a  pretty  steep  trail  it  was,  I  would  need  to  stop 
every  two  or  three  hundred  feet  to  regain  my  breath, 
but  after  a  month  or  so  of  practice  I  could  start  from 
the  foot  of  the  trail  and  not  break  a  good,  smart  walk 
until  I  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  incline.  I  had  found 
a  vein  about  twelve  inches  thick,  which  would  assay 
$30  per  ton.  I  believed  the  mine  to  be  valuable  and 
bought  Hunter's  interest  in  it. 

I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Dr.  Gellar,  whose 
home  was  in  Santa  Clara,  Gal.  He  was  a  nice  gentle 
man  ;  had  been  a  member  of  the  California  legislature, 
was  a  practicing  physician,  and  had  been  living  in  Aus 
tin  for  some  time.  He  conceived  the  idea  of  getting 
the  owners  of  mines  to  give  him  their  deeds,  he 
agreeing  to  pay  a  certain  price  for  any  mine  he 
should  sell.  He  wished  me  to  give  him  a  deed  of  the 
Hunter  mine,  but  I  did  not  believe  that  people  in  New 
York  city  would  buy  our  mines;  hence  I  refused  to 
give  him  the  deed,  though  he  was  confident  of  success. 
He  went  to  'New  York,  and  after  a  few  months  re 
turned,  reporting  that  he  had  sold  the  mines,  and  paid 
the  owners  the  amounts  agreed  upon.  He  had  organized 
a  company  in  New  York  with  a  capital  of  five  million 
dollars,  a  certain  portion  of  which  was  set  aside  for  the 


LIFE   IN    NEVADA  95 

building  of  reduction  works.     He  had  received  $500,- 

000  of  the  stock,  which  was  worth,  when  he  left  New 
York,  60  cents  on  the  dollar.     The  company  wanted  a 
competent  man  to  manage  the  mines  in  Nevada,  and 
Dr.  Gellar  wanted  me  to  sell  him  the  Hunter  mine,  for 
which  he  offered  to  pay  my  price — $10,000 — $1,500 
cash  down,  with  a  written  contract  to  pay  the  balance 
when  he  should  sell  it.    The  great  success  of  his  former 
trip  to  New  York  inspired  me  with  confidence  in  his 
ability,  and  I  sold  him  the  mine. 

It  may  be  a  matter  of  interest  to  know  that  Califor 
nia  and  the  territories  of  the  Pacific  slope  had  always 
held  to  the  gold  standard.  All  debts  were  payable  in 
gold  in  that  section  during  the  war,  and  U.  S.  legal 
tender  notes  did  not  circulate  as  money,  though  large 
amounts  of  the  same  could  be  purchased  at  a  discount. 

1  remember  buying  and  sending  to  my  wife  a  United 
States  compound  interest  note  drawing  7  per  cent  on 
its  $50  face  value.     It  was  lost  or  stolen  in  the  mails 
and  she  never  received  it.     This  was  the  first  and  only 
note  of  the  kind  that  I  ever  saw.    It  would  be  regarded 
as  a  great  curiosity  now. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  I  sold  my  plat  of  surveyed 
land  on  Big  Creek  to  a  Mr.  Johnson  from  Crab 
Orchard,  Mo.  He  diverted  water  from  Big  Creek  for 
irrigation  and  planted  it  with  Irish  potatoes.  He  raised 
about  three  hundred  bushels  per  acre  and  sold  them  for 
8  cents  per  pound.  All  vegetables  and  salt  meats  were 
imported  into  this  country  from  California, 

Silver  ore  at  that  time  was  crushed  in  stamp  mills 
and  the  silver  gathered  by  amalgamation.  Many  com 
binations  of  silver  and  other  metals  would  not  amalga* 


96  REMINISCENCES 

mate,  and  perhaps  one-half  of  the  silver  was  lost  in  the 
"tailings,"  or  refuse,  by  this  treatment. 

In  the  summer  of  1865  the  overland  trip  across  the 
country  by  stage  had  become  quite  the  fashion  for  peo 
ple  of  adventurous  spirit.  Some  notable  men  had  made 
the  trip  and  had  advertised  it  to  the  public  in  general. 
Among  others  were  Deacon  Bross,  of  the  Chicago 
Tribune;  Horace  Greeley,  of  the  New  York  Tribune; 
Prof.  Silliman,  of  Yale  College;  James  G.  Elaine,  of 
glorious  memory,  and  Albert  D.  Richardson,  the  popu 
lar  correspondent,  who  was  afterwards  murdered.  Many 
of  these  were  induced  to  make  us  short  speeches.  I  re 
member  Prof.  Silliman,  in  a  public  talk  to  us  ignorant 
miners,  explained  how  the  fissure  veins  were  formed 
and  how  the  quartz  and  metal  penetrated  them.  His 
theory  was  that  in  some  stage  of  its  existence  the  earth 
was  very  damp ;  it  was  then  submitted  in  some  manner 
to  great  heat ;  this  rapid  drying  of  the  earth's  surface 
caused  it  to  crack.  Again  the  surface  was  covered  with 
water  in  which  were  carried  large  quantities  of  quartz 
and  minerals  in  solution,  and  this  substance  settling  in 
the  fissures  made  the  veins  which  we  were  trying  to  dig 
out.  As  an  explanation  it  was  very  lucid ;  almost  any 
body  who  had  not  much  sense  could  believe  it.  This 
theory  gave  me  great  respect  (?)  for  scientific  men. 

Dir.  Gellar  wished  me  to  go  to  New  York  and  see  the 
directors  of  his  company  and  said  he  could  procure  my 
appointment  as  superintendent  of  the  company  in  Ne 
vada,  which  would  be  most  gratifying  to  me.  I  wished 
to  go  home  and  visit  my  family  any  way.  I  think  it 
was  some  time  in  October  I  made  arrangements  for  the 
visit  to  New  York,  being  furnished  with  letters  of  in 
troduction  to  J.  S.  Christy,  president  of  the  company, 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  97 

and  to  several  of  the  directors.  The  doctor  was  also  to 
write  them  direct,  recommending  my  appointment. 
When  I  was  ready  for  the  trip  Mr.  Johnson,  whom  I 
have  mentioned  before,  decided  to  go  with  me. 

Road  agents  sometimes  worked  the  stage  routes,  so 
I  put  my  money  into  San  Francisco  exchange,  paid  my 
fare  through  to  that  city,  and  saved  out  only  coin  enough 
to  pay  my  incidental  expenses.  We  intended  to  leave  by 
the  stage  that  passed  through  Austin  on  Saturday.  The 
coach  had  only  one  or  two  passengers,  but  the  agent  re 
fused  to  take  any  more;  we  thought  this  very  strange, 
but  could  not  help  ourselves.  The  next  day,  Sunday, 
we  left,  bidding  our  acquaintances  good-bye.  The  jour 
ney  was  without  incident  until  we  arrived  within  a  mile 
of  the  Gould  &  Gurry  mill  at  Virginia  Gity,  Monday 
evening.  There  was  a  full  moon,  and  it  was  light 
enough  to  read  print.  I  was  lying  on  the  front  seat 
with  my  head  in  Mr.  Johnson's  lap,  partially  asleep, 
when  the  stage  suddenly  stopped.  I  heard  a  sharp  voice 
saying,  "Hold  your  hands  up  or  Fll  shoot  your  head 
off."  Two  of  our  passengers  before  this  had  left  the 
inside  of  the  coach  to  enjoy  a  ride  with  the  driver;  one 
of  them  was  a  Mr.  Batchelder,  of  Boston,  who  had  been 
a  captain  in  the  army  during  the  late  war.  He  was 
taking  this  overland  trip  as  an  adventure  and  to  see  the 
great  west.  I  knew  the  command  I  heard  was  given  by 
a  stage  robber.  I  opened  the  door  of  the  coach  and 
stepped  to  the  ground.  A  man  wearing  a  linen  coat, 
with  a  belt  around  his  waist,  a  straw  hat,  a  mask,  etc., 
pointed  a  double-barreled  shotgun  at  me  and  said :  "Get 
back  into  the  stage."  I  did  so  without  delay.  Then  I 
heard  some  one  say,  "Throw  out  that  Wells  &  Fargo 
box."  The  driver  threw  it  to  the  ground,  and  it  was 


98  BEMINISCENCES 

carried  to  the  rear  of  the  coach,  on  the  left  side.  It 
was  an  iron  box,  and  a  man  broke  it  into  pieces  with  a 
sledge,  I  watching  the  proceedings  from  where  I  sat  in 
the  stage.  I  was  not  much  concerned.  The  road  agents 
did  not  usually  interfere  with  the  passengers;  their 
business  was  to  rob  the  express  box.  The  contents  did 
not  appear  to  satisfy  them.  The  next  call  was  for  the 
passengers  to  get  out  of  the  stage.  I  knew  that  meant 
business  for  us.  My  first  impulse  was  to  hide  my 
purse  in  the  coach,  but  I  recollected  that  passengers 
without  money  were  sometimes  turned  around  and 
kicked.  I  resolved  that  I  would  not  suffer  such  ignominy 
for  the  small  amount  of  cash  I  had  with  me,  so  I  took 
my  money,  which  was  in  a  buckskin  bag  that  also  con 
tained  a  silver  "brick"  worth  $7  from  the  Hunter  mine, 
a  number  of  odd  silver  coins  which  I  had  bought  in 
Austin,  a  $20  gold  piece  and  fifteen  silver  dollars,  and 
slipped  it  with  the  purse  into  the  pocket  of  a  long  linen 
coat  which  I  wore  to  protect  myself  from  the  dust.  We 
were  made  to  stand  in  a  line  facing  the  coach,  a  high 
wayman  with  a  double-barreled  shotgun  being  at  each 
end  of  the  line,  one  back  of  us  and  one  at  the  horses' 
heads,  while  another  robbed  us.  I  was  at  the  head  of 
the  line  and  the  weight  of  the  coin  in  my  pocket  indi 
cated  where  I  had  hidden  my  valuables.  The  robber, 
without  saying  "by  your  leave,"  ran  his  hand  into  my 
pocket  and  seized  the  purse.  I  remarked:  "That  is 
all  the  money  I  have."  He  said:  "Get  back  into  the 
coach."  I  made  no  unnecessary  delay  in  doing  so.  From 
my  seat  I  saw  them  rob  the  other  passengers.  When 
they  came  to  Mr.  Batchelder  and  demanded  his  purse, 
he  handed  them  $300  in  gold.  They  asked  him  if  he 
had  any  greenbacks.  He  took  out  a  pocket-book  and 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  99 

opened  it ;  in  it  lay  seven  one  hundred  dollar  bills.  They 
demanded  his  watch  and  the  diamond  he  wore  in  his 
shirt  front,  and  tore  the  latter  loose.  Mr.  B.  said  it  was 
a  present  from  his  mother,  who  was  now  dead,  and  that 
he  would  like  to  make  some  arrangement  for  its  re 
demption.  The  robber  had  carelessly  dropped  the 
diamond  in  the  road,  but  he  stooped  down,  picked  it  up, 
handed  it  to  Mr.  Batchelder  and  said:  "Keep  it." 
They  searched  Mr.  Johnson  but  could  find  nothing.  I 
knew  he  had  $300  in  gold,  paid  him  just  before  he  left 
Austin.  The  robbers  next  ordered  us  back  into  the 
coach,  then  removed  the  barrier  they  had  placed  at  a 
sharp  bend  in  the  road  (it  had  been  so  placed  that  the 
driver  could  not  see  it  until  he  was  near),  then  or 
dered  the  driver  to  stand  still  until  they  gave  him  the 
signal  to  start,  which  they  did  when  they  had  reached 
the  top  of  the  mountain. 

Upon  receiving  the  signal  the  driver  made  good 
speed  until  he  reached  the  hotel  in  Virginia  City.  There 
were  eight  men  passengers  and  one  woman.  The  rob 
bers  did  not  disturb  the  latter,  but  asked  her  if  any 
man  had  given  her  his  money  to  keep ;  she  replied  "No." 
Johnson  was  the  only  man  who  had  sustained  no  loss; 
he  had  slipped  his  gold  inside  his  boot-leg  while  the 
robbers  were  breaking  into  the  express  box.  There  were 
three  or  four  silver  "bricks"  lying  in  the  bottom  of  the 
stage,  weighing  about  one  hundred  pounds  and  worth 
$1,000  each,  but  the  road  agents  had  learned  not  to 
want  this  kind  of  property,  as  its  loss  invariably  led  to 
their  detection  and  capture. 

I  learned  afterwards  that  three  of  the  robbers  were 
|  county  commissioners  of  Lander  County,  of  which  Aus 
tin  was  the  county-seat ;  also  that  the  secret  of  the  Sat- 


100  REMINISCENCES 

urday  coach  refusing  to  take  more  passengers  was  that 
in  the  usual  course  of  travel  the  stage  due  to  arrive  on 
Sunday  had  reached  Austin  on  Saturday,  twenty-four 
hours  ahead  of  time,  with  twenty  thousand  dollars  in 
gold  coin  which  the  stage  company  was  transporting 
from  Salt  Lake  City  to  Virginia  City.  There  was  much 
excitement  in  the  latter  town  when  we  arrived  and  told 
of  the  robhery.  We  spent  the  night  at  Virginia  City, 
but  from  there  were  to  take  another  route  to  California 
than  the  one  I  traveled  over  when  coming  to  Nevada 
two  years  before. 

Messrs.  Huntington  &  Hopkins,  then  large  hardware 
dealers  in  Sacramento,  in  company  with  the  Crockers 
and  Leland  Stanford,  had  built  a  road  from  this  place 
to  Dutch  Flat.  When  Congress  enacted  a  law  for  the 
building  of  an  overland  road  the  gentlemen  named  or 
ganized  a  construction  company  to  build  the  western 
end  of  the  road,  which  they  called  the  Central  Pacific ; 
this  road  was  to  extend  east  of  the  Sierras  to  meet  the 
Union  Pacific.  Our  coach  went  by  the  way  of  Truckee, 
where  it  began  to  ascend  the  mountains.  That  after 
noon  we  passed  Donner  Lake,  rendered  famous  as  the 
place  where  the  Donner  party  of  immigrants  endured 
the  terrible  sufferings  which  has  been  so  graphically 
and  pathetically  depicted  by  Bret  Harte.  I  remember 
passing  the  fearful  chasm  at  Cape  Horn.  I  am  uncer 
tain  whether  we  went  farther  than  Sacramento  by  rail ; 
we  may  have  taken  a  steamer  there  for  San  Francisco. 

When  I  received  the  draft  for  services  from  the  saw 
mill  company  I  sent  it  to  Lane,  of  San  Francisco,  for 
collection.  I  wished  him  to  remit  me  a  certificate  of 
deposit  for  the  proceeds  from  some  San  Francisco  bank, 
but  I  received  no  satisfaction.  Then  I  wrote  him  some 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  101 

threatening  letters  about  the  matter.  When  I  arrived 
in  Frisco  Mr.  McCracken  told  me  that  I  had  not  taken 
the  right  course;  he  suggested  that  I  let  him  manage 
Lane,  saying  that  he  thought  he  could  get  the  money. 
I  did  so,  and  in  a  short  time  Mr.  McCracken  handed 
the  amount  to  me.  I  have  always  doubted  whether 
McCracken  loaned  the  money  to  Lane  or  paid  it  out  of 
his  own  money  in  order  to  protect  Lane's  reputation. 
When  I  lived  in  Oshkosh  Mr.  O.  C.  McCracken  was  a 
dry  goods  merchant  there,  and  he  also  liked  a  good 
horse.  After  he  went  to  California  there  were  rumors 
that  he  gambled.  When  I  reached  San  Francisco  his 
wife  and  child  had  arrived  from  Oshkosh  and  he  was 
keeping  house.  I  visited  him  while  there,  but  he  did 
not  introduce  me  to  any  of  the  gambling  fraternity.  His 
associates  appeared  to  be  gentlemen.  He  was  always  a 
good  friend  to  me  and  I  respected  him. 

I  waited  in  San  Francisco  till  a  steamer  should  sail 
for  the  isthmus.  I  took  passage  by  the  Nicaragua  route, 
then  a  rival  of  tne  Vanderbilt  Panama  line.  We  landed 
at  San  Juan  del  Sur.  As  we  drew  near  the  coast  at  a  dis 
tance  of  about  a  mile,  we  turned  a  sharp  angle  toward  it, 
and  our  steamer  passing  through  some  woods  threaded 
a  little,  narrow  channel  of  water,  into  a  circular  lake, 
not  twice  the  length  of  our  steamer  in  diameter.  Our 
vessel  was  of  wood  of  good  dimensions  and  carried  six 
hundred  passengers,  all  of  whom  were  glad  to  land  on 
the  wharf  after  ten  days'  confinement  on  the  steamer. 
We  had  to  go  from  this  place  to  Virgin  Bay,  twelve 
miles  distant  on  Lake  Nicaragua,  At  the  landing  we 
found  several  hundred  burros,  also  a  number  of  two 
and  three-seated  wagons  and  other  conveyances,  of 
which  the  passengers  were  told  to  take  their  choice. 


102  REMINISCENCES 

I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  pleasant  gentleman 
who  had  lived  at  Los  Angeles  for  several  years.  He 
talked  Spanish  fluently  and  was  a  very  agreeable  com 
panion.  We  each  selected  a  burro  on  which  to  ride, 
and  followed  a  road  leading  up  a  stream  through  the 
woods.  The  natives  had  booths  where  they  sold  fruits,  na 
tive  drinks  of  all  kinds,  and  food,  also  articles  of  local 
curiosity.  I  bought  a  walking  cane  of  a  very  handsome 
wood  that  grew  in  that  locality,  and  when  I  reached 
New  York  City  I  had  it  turned  and  mounted.  It  made 
a  beautiful  cane,  and  manufacturers  offered  me  $10  for 
the  stick. 

We  arrived  at  Virgin  Bay  at  about  3  p.  in.  and  found 
a  steamer  waiting  to  take  us  across  the  lake.  There 
were  no  accommodations  at  this  place  in  the  way  of 
lodgings,  but  the  steamer  did  not  leave  until  the  next 
day,  as  it  took  all  night  to  get  the  freight  and  baggage 
across  from  San  Juan  del  Sur.  We  started  across  the 
lake  in  the  morning ;  it  was  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water. 
A  few  miles  from  the  shore  at  Virgin  Bay  is  an  island 
upon  which  are  two  extinct  volcanoes,  beautiful  moun 
tain  cones,  about  equal  in  size  and  height. 

We  arrived  at  Nicaragua  River  where  it  leaves  the 
lake.  Some  dredging  had  been  done  here  to  deepen  the 
channel.  Our  boat  went  on  down  the  river  to  Castillo. 
We  arrived  there  just  before  dark  and  spent  the  night. 
As  no  accommodations  for  sleeping  on  the  boat  were  to 
be  had,  my  friend  went  ashore  to  find  lodging.  He  found 
one.  Our  bed  was  of  planed  boards  covered  with  a 
sheet  and  supplied  with  another  sheet  to  put  over  us. 
I  was  not  accustomed  to  that  kind  of  bed;  besides  a 
Spanish  garcon  talked  in  an  adjoining  room,  which  pre 
vented  my  sleeping.  In  the  morning  we  were  trans- 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  103 

ferred  to  a  smaller,  lighter  draft  steamer,  that  could 
pass  the  rapids  in  the  river,  which  began  just  below 
Castillo.  This  boat  was  crowded  with  passengers.  We 
were  served  with  breakfast  aboard  the  boat,  and  pro 
ceeded  on  our  way  down  the  river.  We  saw  many  beau 
tiful  birds  in  the  trees,  of  brilliant  plumage  and  gay 
colors.  Through  the  rapids  the  river  was  narrow  and 
crooked,  and  our  passage  consequently  slow. 

Many  of  the  passengers  imbibed  large  quantities  of 
liquor  and  became  intoxicated.  When  about  twelve 
miles  from  Greytown  one  passenger  who  had  taken  too 
much  was  leaning  against  a  post  on  the  lower  deck.  In 
some  manner  his  shoulder  slipped  past  the  post  and  he 
fell  over  backward  into  the  river.  I  watched  him  as 
he  lay  there  on  his  back,  on  the  surface  of  the  water. 
The  bell  was  rung  and  the  steamer  stopped,  but  before 
a  boat  could  be  sent  to  his  rescue  I  saw  him  suddenly 
disappear  beneath  the  water.  I  suppose  an  alligator 
or  crocodile  grabbed  him  and  hauled  him  down.  I  was 
unable  to  learn  the  man's  name,  and  I  suppose  this  to 
be  one  of  those  cases  where  a  man  disappears  and  his 
friends  and  relatives  never  know  what  became  of  him. 
This  accident  sobered  the  passengers,  who  before  had 
been  hilarious  with  drink. 

We  arrived  at  Greytown  after  dark  and  were  told 
that  the  transportation  company  would  pay  our  board 
at  the  hotel.  My  friend  had  the  advantage  of  most  of 
the  passengers,  in  being  able  to  speak  Spanish.  He  se 
cured  lodging  for  us  in  the  best  hotel.  It  was  of  the 
usual  type  in  Mexico,  as  it  surrounded  a  patio.  We 
lodged  in  the  hotel  for  a  week  waiting  the  arrival  of 
the  Atlantic  steamer  from  New  York.  The  weather 
was  very  fine  and  we  had  an  enjoyable  time.  All  things 


104  REMINISCENCES 

were  curious  and  interesting  to  me  on  account  of  their 
novelty.  I  found  some  of  the  finest  cigars  that  I  have 
ever  had  the  pleasure  of  smoking  and  brought  a  couple 
of  thousand  home  with  me.  I  saw  some  very  hand 
some  jewelry  of  gold  and  tortoise  shell  that  was  said  to 
have  been  manufactured  by  the  Mosquito  Indians.  The 
carving  was  delicate  and  artistic.  I  bought  my  wife  a 
beautiful  ring,  which  proved  too  small,  and  so  I  have 
it  yet. 

From  the  fact  that  I  have  been  over  the  Isthmian 
routes  of  the  proposed  canal,  both  via  Panama  and 
Nicaragua,  I  have  felt  more  than  ordinary  interest  in 
the  present  project.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  the 
United  States  government  made  a  mistake  in  selecting 
the  former  route.  With  my  imperfect  knowledge  of 
engineering  I  see  no  formidable  difficulty  in  construct 
ing  a  canal  via  Nicaragua. 

In  my  boyhood  days  there  was  but  one  school  in 
America,  so  far  as  I  know,  for  educating  boys  to  become 
civil  engineers.  What  I  learned  of  engineering  I  ac 
quired  from  other  men  who  had  taught  themselves.  I 
judge  I  was  possessed  of  natural  talent  for  this  profes 
sion,  but  I  lacked  the  early  education  to  fit  me  for  such 
a  position;  a  fact  which  I  have  always  very  much  re 
gretted.  I  did  not  dream  at  that  time  of  the  great  de 
velopment  of  our  country  I  was  to  see.  The  business 
of  a  farmer  or  merchant  comprised  most  of  the  prospects 
open  to  the  ambitious  boys  of  that  day.  What  is  before 
the  lads  of  this  day  is  a  world  of  magnificent  possibili 
ties  !  How  I  should  like  to  know  what  I  now  know,  and 
have  the  youth,  physique  and  intellect  that  I  had  fifty 
years  ago,  with  the  present  chances  for  education  and 


LIFE    IN    NEVADA  105 

with  the  possibilities  in  sight  for  the  boys  of  this  gen 
eration  ! 

Science  must  enter  largely  into  such  gigantic  opera 
tions  as  building  an  isthmian  canal,  but  practical  ex 
perience  and  "good  horse  sense"  are  of  even  greater  im 
portance.  The  digging  of  a  canal  some  thirty  miles 
long  and  an  average  depth  of  three  hundred  feet  is 
perhaps  a  possibility,  but  not  a  probability,  without  the 
expenditure  of  an  amount  of  money,  and  of  life,  that  is 
appalling.  It  involves  an  amount  of  work  that  is  al 
most  incredible.  But  the  digging  of  the  Nicaraguan 
canal,  though  a  gigantic  operation,  appears  feasible  to 
a  person  of  no  greater  experience  and  observation  than 
myself. 

During  our  stay  at  Greytown  most  of  the  passengers 
amused  themselves  viewing  the  city  and  becoming 
familiar  with  the  possibilities  of  the  country.  Between 
Lake  Nicaragua  and  the  Pacific  Ocean  there  was  con 
siderable  agricultural  development,  also  some  fine  coffee 
plantations.  On  the  East  side  of  Lake  Nicaragua  I 
saw  but  little  enterprise  or  development,  the  country 
having  the  appearance  of  waiting  for  something  to 
turn  up.  The  city  of  Greytown  was  an  exception. 

One  moonlit  night  I  took  a  walk  through  the  city.  It 
consisted  largely  of  poor  shanties.  I  saw  a  few  peo 
ple  gathered  about  a  house  and  inquired  what  was  the 
matter;  someone  who  understood  and  could  speak  Eng 
lish  replied  that  a  couple  of  men  were  fighting.  I  said : 
"Why  don't  you  stop  them  ?"  He  replied :  "Oh,  the 
men  have  got  swords."  The  house  was  without  lights 
and  the  women  at  the  door  were  wailing.  The  fighters 
seemed  astonished  at  my  appearance  and  stopped.  I 
seized  one  of  them  and  swung  him  through  the  door. 


106  EEMINISCENCES 

However,  as  I  could  understand  none  of  their  talk,  I 
went  back  to  the  hotel.  As  I  came  into  the  light  of 
the  room  I  was  greeted  with  the  demand:  "Where 
have  you  been?"  "Why?"  said  I.  They  exclaimed: 
"Look  at  your  coat."  I  did  so;  it  was  covered  with 
blood.  I  told  them  of  my  interference  in  the  fracas 
just  related,  and  they  suggested  that  I  ought  to  have  a 
guardian  attend  me  when  I  went  out. 

One  morning  we  saw  a  steamer  in  the  offing  a  mile 
or  two  from  shore,  and  were  informed  that  it  was  the 
steamer  come  to  carry  us  to  New  York.  We  were  con 
veyed  to  this  vessel  in  whale  boats  and  other  craft 
manned  with  oars.  We  found  it  to  be  an  iron  steamer, 
the  first  I  had  ever  seen.  It  was  a  fine  craft  and  we 
found  good  accommodations  aboard;  her  name  was 
"Santiago  de  Cuba."  When  the  baggage  and  freight 
were  on  board  the  steamer  set  sail.  We  passed  through 
the  Caribbean  Sea  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  past  Cape 
San  Antonio  on  the  west  end  of  Cuba,  through  the 
Straits  of  Florida  into  the  gulf  stream,  and  made  our 
way  up  the  east  coast  of  the  United  States  to  New  York 
City.  Nothing  of  importance  occurred  on  this  part  of 
the  voyage  that  I  can  recall. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WIND    AND    WATEK. 

When  our  ship  arrived  at  New  York  the  passengers 
scattered  in  all  directions.  I  had  made  some  acquaint 
ances  and  formed  some  friendships  on  the  voyage.  My 
friend  and  I  remained  together  and  boarded  at  the 
same  house,  which  faced  what  was  then  known  as  St. 
John's  Park.  I  understand  this  has  since  been  taken 
as  a  site  for  a  freight  depot  for  the  Hudson  River  R.  R. 
I  delivered  my  letters  of  introduction,  gave  the  parties 
much  information  about  the  mines  of  Nevada,  and  was 
well  received.  After  some  weeks  I  was  informed  by 
the  president  of  the  company  that  I  would  be  employed 
at  a  salary  of  $3,600  and  would  be  expected  to  return 
to  Nevada  in  February.  I  planned  to  go  to  Wisconsin 
to  get  my  wife  and  boy  and  take  them  to  Nevada  when 
I  returned. 

On  my  journey  to  Wisconsin,  when  we  arrived  at 
Pittsburg,  Mr.  Charles  Eldredge,  member  of  Congress 
from  the  Fond  du  Lac  district,  and  Mr.  Philetus  Saw 
yer,  member  of  Congress  from  the  Oshkosh  district^ 
came  into  my  Pullman  car.  During  the  journey  Mr. 
Sawyer  informed  me  how  he  happened  to  run  for  Con 
gress,  which  interested  me  not  a  little.  He  said  that 
Colonel  Bouck,  who  was  colonel  of  a  Wisconsin  regi 
ment,  resigned  his  commission  and  came  home  from 
the  army  to  run  for  Congress  on  the  democratic  ticket, 
proclaiming  that  the  war  was  a  "damned  failure." 

107 


108  REMINISCENCES 

Sawyer  said  lie  did  not  believe  it,  and  in  order  to  beat 
Bouck  he  determined  to  run  himself.  He  spent  con 
siderable  money  to  get  elected — $10,000.  Mr.  Sawyer, 
as  I  recollect,  served  twelve  years  in  the  lower  house 
and  eighteen  years  in  the  senate.  He  was  a  shrewd, 
far-seeing  man,  who  never  went  back  on  his  friends. 
He  was  a  good  talker  in  a  chair,  but  could  not  make  a 
speech  on  his  feet;  he  appeared  to  lack  the  nerve  to 
make  the  first  effort.  He  was  a  good  friend  to  me  after 
wards.  Mark  II anna  was  a  similar  man,  but  not  so 
genial  as  Mr.  Sawyer;  until  a  few  years  before  his 
death  Hanna  had  never  made  a  public  speech,  yet  finally 
he  became  something  of  an  orator.  President  McKinley 
told  me  that  he  was  very  much  surprised  at  Mark 
Hanna's  ability.  Mr.  Hanna  discovered  that  he  could 
talk  on  his  feet  and  became  one  of  the  principal  stump 
speakers  of  the  country  during  Mr.  McKinley's  last 
campaign  for  the  presidency. 

I  met  my  family  in  Oshkosh  and  after  a  few  weeks' 
stay  we  went  to  Sherburne  for  a  visit  among  my  people. 
After  a  short  sojourn  there  I  went  to  New  York  City. 
I  had  not  been  there  long  before  I  discovered  that  an 
tagonistic  influences  were  at  work  against  me.  I  learned 
that  one  of  the  directors  of  the  company,  a  Mr.  Bennett* 
of  Binghampton,  wanted  to  send  a  young  lawyer  from 
his  city  to  Nevada  to  examine  the  titles  to  the  mines. 
I  knew  that  was  unnecessary.  As  it  proved  afterwards, 
Mr.  Bennett  had  other  designs,  and  as  will  be  related, 
he  accomplished  what  he  wished.  I  stayed  in  New 
York  all  summer.  I  had  some  half  a  dozen  acquaint 
ances  there  who  were  trying  to  sell  mines.  We  boarded 
with  a  Mrs.  Sheik,  near  St.  John's  Park,  in  the  locality 
where  I  had  boarded  the  fall  before. 


WIND   AND    WATER  109 

The  Fenians  were  then  making  a  great  noise  in  the 
country  about  invading  Canada,  Their  head  center 
organization  was  in  New  York.  A  young  Irishman 
who  claimed  to  be  chief  clerk  of  this  organization 
boarded  in  the  same  house  with  us;  also  a  number  of 
Irish  saleswomen.  Mrs.  Sheik  was  herself  an  Irish 
woman,  but  she  had  procured  an  appropriate  name  by 
marrying  a  German.  The  talk  at  the  table  by  these 
Irish  guests  was  very  optimistic  and  very  annoying  to 
me.  I  became  disgusted  one  day  at  dinner  because  of 
the  young  man's  braggadocia,  and  I  remarked  to  him 
that  I  had  boarded  with  a  young  Irishman  while  I  was 
in  Nevada  who  had  explained  to  me  the  manner  in 
which  many  Irishmen  had  come  to  this  country.  The 
man  I  had  boarded  with,  Jack  Doyle,  said  that  when  a 
ship  was  in  a  nearby  harbor  and  wanted  emigrants  for 
America,  they  would  take  some  large  wooden  boxes,  bore 
many  holes  through  the  sides  large  enough  for  a  man  to 
put  his  hands  through,  put  a  lot  of  Irish  potatoes  inside, 
take  the  boxes  to  the  mountains  and  leave  them  there 
over  night ;  in  the  morning  the  ship's  crew  would  go  to 
the  boxes  and  would  find  an  Irishman  fastened  to  nearly 
every  hole  in  the  boxes.  He  had  put  his  hand  through 
the  hole  and  grabbed  a  potato,  and  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  get  his  hand  out  with  the  potato  clasped  in  it. 
I  had  asked  why  he  did  not  drop  the  potato  and  so  take 
his  hand  out,  but  the  reply  was,  "The  damned  fool 
didn't  know  enough."  When  I  had  finished  my  story 
the  silence  around  that  table  was  appalling;  I  did  not 
know  for  a  time  but  there  would  be  an  earthquake.  I  re 
marked  that  I  did  not  believe  the  story  at  all,  but  that  I 
didn't  know  but  this  young  fellow  might  be  able  to  in 
form  me  as  to  its  truth.  Mrs.  Sheik  threatened  to  ex- 


110  REMINISCENCES 

tradite  me  to  some  other  boarding  house,  but  the  in 
dignation  soon  subsided  and  I  heard  nothing  more  about 
the  wonderful  things  the  "Faynians"  were  going  to  do. 
By  fall  my  projects  had  all  matured,  but  brought  me 
no  results.  I  decided  to  return  to  Wisconsin,  but  noth 
ing  there  seemed  to  offer  satisfactory  inducements;  so 
I  went  to  Chicago  to  try  my  fortune  in  that  city.  I  met 
an  old  acquaintance,  who  was  in  the  same  predicament 
as  myself.  After  some  investigation  we  concluded  we 
could  both  get  rich  in  a  retail  grocery  store.  I  was  to 
do  the  buying  and  he  the  selling.  We  bought  a  grocery 
on  the  west  side,  which  we  thought  had  a  good  trade,  but 
by  the  next  spring  we  had  become  rather  pessimistic  in 
regard  to  the  future  of  the  business.  We,  therefore,  im 
proved  the  first  opportunity  to  sell  out  and  let  another 
man  get  rich.  The  principal  assets  of  the  business 
were  bad  debts,  which  proved  to  be  permanent  invest 
ments.  I  spent  some  time  trying  to  collect  them,  with 
out  success.  I  made  up  my  mind  that  if  I  were  to  live 
within  my  income  I  must  go  to  work  at  my  trade.  At 
first  I  went  to  work  in  the  wood- working  department  of 
a  machine  shop,  but  after  putting  wooden  cogs  into  iron 
core  wheels  for  a  few  months,  I  concluded  to  try  my  old 
trade  of  millwright.  I  engaged  with  Messrs.  Webster 
&  Pray,  at  that  time  the  leading  millwrights  in  Chicago, 
to  take  charge  of  the  rebuilding  of  a  flouring  mill  at  Nor- 
ville,  Mich.  The  work  required  considerable  skill  on  my 
part,  and  I  was  about  eight  months  in  this  employment. 
I  was  then  sent  to  Flint,  Mich.,  where  I  put  in  new  ma 
chinery  for  the  making  of  flour  on  the  patent  sys 
tem,  in  which  effort  I  was  very  successful.  When  I 
finished  and  received  my  pay  the  proprietor  made  me  a 
present  of  a  barrel  of  patent  flour.  I  then  returned  to 


WIND   AND    WATER  111 

Chicago  where  my  family  lived.  One  day  I  saw  an  ad 
vertisement  in  a  newspaper  as  follows : 

"Wanted:  A  Man  Competent  to  Take  Charge  of  a 
Large  Lumbering  Business  in  Michigan." 

I  applied  for  the  place  and  was  engaged  to  go  to 
Pentwater,  Mich.,  to  take  charge  of  the  business  of  Mr. 
Charles  Mears  at  that  point.  Mr.  Mears  went  to  Pent- 
water  with  me.  On  arrival  I  found  that  he  had  for 
superintendent,  a  man  who  held  the  position  for  ten 
years,  until  he  had  come  to  think  himself  a  bigger  man 
than  the  owner.  Mr.  M.  for  some  reason  desired  to  get 
rid  of  him.  I  was  not  informed  as  to  the  situation  un 
til  I  arrived  at  Pentwater.  I  then  told  Mr.  Mears  that 
with  his  permission  I  would  wait  a  week  before  taking 
charge,  in  order  that  I  might  get  acquainted  with  the 
men  and  the  business. 

At  Pentwater,  Mr.  Mears  had  two  saw  mills  and  a 
large  store.  A  stream  ran  from  Lake  Pentwater  into 
Lake  Michigan ;  it  was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
wide  and  a  half  a  mile  in  length.  At  its  mouth  a  wharf 
had  been  built  out  into  the  lake,  where  vessels  landed 
and  were  loaded  and  on  which  lumber  was  piled  ready 
for  shipment.  A  vessel  would  arrive  from  Chicago,  tie 
up  at  the  wharf  and  be  loaded  with  from  one  to  two 
hundred  thousand  feet  of  lumber,  in  from  twelve  to 
twenty-four  hours,  when  she  would  be  ready  for  her  re 
turn  trip. 

Mr.  Mears  owned  pine  lands  and  did  his  own  logging 
in  the  winter,  the  logs  being  piled  on  the  shore  of  Lake 
Pentwater  and  also  on  the  shore  of  a  little  lake  north  of 
Pentwater  called  Bass  Lake.  He  stored  logs  in  these 
lakes  for  the  two  mills,  and  also  cut  some  seven 
thousand  bolts  for  a  shingle  mill  which  he  had  in  Chi- 


112  11EMINISCENCES 

cago.  He  also  manufactured  lumber  at  Whitehall,  and 
at  two  other  lakes  on  the  west  coast  of  Michigan;  only 
the  plant  at  Pentwater  was  to  be  under  my  control. 

I  was  privately  and  confidentially  informed  that  no 
new  man  could  in  less  than  six  months  obtain  sufficient 
experience  to  run  the  business;  moreover,  that  the  old 
superintendent  was  popular  with  the  men,  who  would 
not  permit  a  new  man  to  take  his  place.  Immediately 
after  taking  charge  insubordination  was  exhibited  and  I 
became  convinced  that  the  laborers,  intended  to  make  the 
job  a  very  tiresome  one  for  me;  therefore,  as  soon  as 
a  man  evinced  an  intention  to  disobey  my  orders  I  dis 
charged  him.  At  the  end  of  four  weeks  I  had  dis 
charged  over  sixty  men ;  then  the  rest  became  very  docile 
and  gave  me  no  further  trouble.  While  there  I  rebuilt 
one  of  the  saw  mills. 

Living  in  Pentwater  I  found  a  Mr.  Young,  whose 
native  place  was  Sherbourne;  he  had  married  a  Miss 
Cook,  one  of  the  young  ladies  who  sat  in  the  seat  in 
front  of  me  in  the  academy  when  I  attended  school 
there,  and  whom  I  have  mentioned  before.  These  were 
the  parents  of  the  present  alderman,  who  ably  repre 
sented  the  sixth  ward  of  Chicago.  While  I  was  there 
Mr.  Mears,  then  seventy  or  more  years  of  age,  married 
the  pretty,  sixteen-year-old  daughter  of  his  landlady. 

Certain  agencies  were  at  work  at  Pentwater  antago 
nistic  to  me.  A  clerk  in  a  store  by  the  name  of  Palms, 
and  myself  attended  a  party  one  evening.  Not  long 
afterwards  Mr.  Mears  took  occasion  privately  to  inform 
me  that  he  had  heard  very  damaging  stories  of  my  con 
duct  there.  I  asked :  "What  is  it,  Mr.  Mears  ?"  He  re 
plied:  "I  am  told  that  you  got  drunk."  I  said  I  was 
very  sorry  to  hear  it,  but  did  not  see  how  that  could 


WIND   AND    WATER  113 

« 

be  possible,  as  I  had  not  seen  a  drop  of  liquor  since  I 
had  been  in  Pentwater,  and  did  not  drink  anyway ;  this 
seemed  to  satisfy  him. 

A  feature  peculiar  to  Lake  Michigan  is  the  violent 
gusts  of  wind  that  spring  up  without  warning.  On  one 
occasion  my  wife  and  boy  came  from  Chicago  to  visit 
me.  The  wind  sprang  up  before  the  steamer  reached  the 
wharf.  The  boat  made  a  couple  of  ineffectual  efforts  to 
land,  but  finally  backed  out  and  went  north  to  the  Mani- 
tou  Islands,  where  it  remained  two  nights  before  return 
ing.  One  beautiful  morning  in  early  fall  I  decided  to 
take  a  tug  boat  and  go  to  Bass  Lake,  pick  up  a  tow  of 
logs  and  bring  them  to  Pentwater.  The  sun  was  shining 
brightly  and  there  was  no  wind.  Bass  Lake  is  distant 
about  three  miles  down  Lake  Michigan.  The  tug  was  a 
flat-bottomed  scow,  having  a  hundred  horse-power  boiler 
on  deck.  It  was  a  stern  wheeler,  quite  powerful,  but  un 
wieldy.  When  arrived  at  Bass  Lake  we  anchored  near 
the  shore,  spread  our  towing  boom,  attaching  one  end  of 
it  to  the  tug,  and  commenced  running  logs  into  the 
other  end  of  the  boom  from  the  little  lake.  The  wind 
began  to  freshen.  After  we  had  put  a  few  hundred  logs 
into  the  boom,  we  found  we  could  do  little  against  the 
wind,  and  the  tug  was  in  danger  of  being  blown  ashore, 
so  the  captain  of  the  tug  decided  to  go  back  to  Pent- 
water.  The  wind  blew  almost  at  right  angles  to  the 
shore;  when  far  enough  out  in  the  lake  the  captain 
turned  the  boat  southward  to  go  up  the  shore,  this  put 
it  in  the  trough  of  the  sea.  The  boat  rocked  terribly, 
and  threatened  to  "turn  turtle."  We  were  fast  being 
blown  ashore,  as  the  logs  helped  to  pull  us  in  that  di 
rection.  The  captain  cut  the  towline  and  let  the  logs 
go ;  then  he  was  unable  to  bring  the  bow  of  the  boat  into 


114:  REMINISCENCES 

» 

the  wind.  I  feared  that  the  rocking  of  the  tug  would 
break  the  braces  that  held  the  boiler  to  the  deck  and  that 
it  would  roll  off  into  the  water.  The  captain  was  a  re 
sourceful  man  and  a  good  sailor;  he  tried  to  rig  a  jury 
mast  on  which  to  attach  a  blanket  from  the  cabin  for  a 
sail.  We  saw  a  sea-going  tug  put  out  from  Pentwater 
harbor  coming  to  our  assistance,  but  it  put  out  only  a 
little  way  from  the  pier  when  it  turned  back,  leaving  us 
to  our  fate.  We  were  being  "rocked  in  the  cradle  of  the 
deep"  all  right,  and  were  unable  to  get  the  tug's  head 
into  the  wind.  I  expected  nothing  but  shipwreck,  which 
would  probably  result  in  the  drowning  of  all  on  board. 
The  captain  and  I  finally  rigged  a  jury  mast  made  from 
a  pike-pole,  secured  a  blanket  to  it,  and  brought  the  tug 
around,  bow  into  the  wind.  After  running  a  short  time 
we  turned  around  and  sailed  into  Pentwater  harbor.  The 
storm  subsided  as  quickly  as  it  had  arisen. 

The  engineers  on  the  tugboats  were  required  to  keep 
within  call  on  Sundays,  in  case  of  necessity  arising  to 
use  the  boat.  One  Sunday  morning  one  of  the  en 
gineers  asked  permission  to  go  with  some  others  five  or 
six  miles  blackberrying,  which  I  granted.  The  party 
returned  on  horse-back  feeling  rather  hilarious,  and  ran 
their  horses  down  the  principal  street,  which  was  paved 
with  sawdust.  The  horse  which  the  engineer  rode 
stumbled  and  fell,  throwing  its  rider  violently  onto  the 
road  ahead  of  him.  The  engineer  was  stunned  and  in 
jured  internally.  We  carried  him  to  the  company  hotel. 
Two  young  doctors  who  had  lately  settled  in  the  town 
were  sent  for,  and  they  gave  the  injured  man  a  dose  of 
chloroform.  The  patient  went  into  a  stupor  from  which 
he  never  recovered.  The  doctor  worked  his  lungs  like 
a  bellows  trying  to  keep  the  breath  of  life  in  him,  for 


WIND   AND    WATEB  115 

several  hours.  I  have  known  of  a  number  of  persons 
killed  by  an  over-dose  of  some  anesthetic,  but  there  is 
one  consoling  feature  in  the  experience  of  physicians — 
their  mistakes  are  buried  with  their  patients. 

When  winter  came  I  returned  to  Chicago,  and  later  I 
went  to  Oshkosh  and  took  charge  of  a  lumbering  opera 
tion  for  my  father-in-law.  I  spent  the  winter  in  the 
woods  above  New  London,  Wis.  In  the  spring  when 
the  logging  roads  thawed  out,  I  built  a  board  shanty  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  at  the  log  landing,  and  stayed 
there  in  charge  of  the  logs,  waiting  for  the  ice  to  break 
up,  when  the  logs  were  to  be  put  in  cribs.  These  were 
about  forty  feet  square,  made  by  four  booms  put  to 
gether  and  pinned  at  their  ends  with  oak  pins,  the  in 
side  being  then  packed  full  of  logs.  The  cribs  would 
run  down  the  river  without  attention.  If  one  corner 
struck  the  bank  the  crib  would  simply  turn  and  go  out 
into  the  stream  again.  Before  we  had  the  logs  all  put 
into  the  cribs,  the  ice  above  us  had  broken  up,  and  the 
rush  of  logs,  cribs  of  posts  and  railroad  ties  made  our 
logs  so  insecure  that  we  decided  to  pull  out  and  go  down 
the  river  with  the  jam.  We  took  eight  or  ten  suitable 
logs,  put  poles  across  on  top,  pinned  the  poles  to  the  logs, 
put  oars  on  each  end  of  this  float,  put  our  shanty  in  the 
center  of  it,  and  our  provisions  and  traps  in  same,  then 
got  on  board.  Turning  the  logs  and  cribs  loose,  we  fol 
lowed  in  the  rear  of  the  logs  in  our  house  on  the  crib. 
It  was  our  intention  to  tie  up  at  New  London  and  stop 
there  all  night,  but  we  failed  to  make  a  safe  landing; 
the  high  water  in  the  river  making  the  current  so  strong, 
that  we  had  to  run  the  river  all  night.  It  rained  very 
hard  and  was  so  dark  that  one  could  not  see  his  hand  be 
fore  him,  except  when  the  lightning  flashed.  The 


116  REMINISCENCES 

thunder  was  almost  a  continuous  peal.  Taken  altogether, 
it  was  one  of  the  most  terrific  nights  I  ever  experienced. 
Of  course,  under  such  circumstances,  we  could  not  think 
of  sleeping.  It  was  so  dangerous  to  walk  on  the  crib, 
that  we  stayed  inside  the  shanty  and  watched  the  shore 
by  the  flashes  of  lightning.  To  have  stepped  off  the  raft 
into  the  water  would  have  meant  probable  death. 
Towards  morning,  as  it  grew  lighter  the  storm  abated. 
We  came  to  an  island  in  the  river,  which  we  had  ex 
pected  to  reach  ahead  of  the  logs,  as  the  cribs  should 
have  been  turned  to  the  right  of  it.  We  stopped  here, 
much  relieved  to  escape  from  our  perilous  position  of 
the  night 


CHAPTEK  X. 

FBOM    NORTH   TO   SOUTH. 

I  went  to  Oshkosh  and  soon  became  convinced  that 
the  scheme  which  had  brought  me  to  that  city  would 
not  materialize.  It  was  decided  that  my  wife  should  re 
main  here  and  that  I  should  go  back  to  Chicago.  There 
I  joined  a  Mr.  Fargusson  who  was  in  the  mill-supply 
business.  I  went  into  the  project  on  my  own  responsi 
bility  and  secured  the  agency  of  a  number  of  manu 
facturing  concerns ;  this  I  afterwards  made  quite  profit 
able.  Mr.  Fargusson  and  I  occupied  the  same  store  on 
Canal  St.  and  worked  together  very  harmoniously.  He 
was,  I  think,  of  Scotch  extraction,  and  was  an  honest, 
respectable  man  whom  I  very  much  esteemed. 

At  first  I  engaged  in  building  flour  mills.  I  planned 
one  to  be  built  at  Washington,  Neb.,  which  was  to  be 
operated  by  water  power.  Also  a  similar  one  to  be 
erected  in  Kansas,  and  a  third  one  for  Messrs.  Baxter 
&  Brunner,  of  Gratiot,  Wis.  In  the  latter  case  the  own 
ers  insisted  that  I  should  come  to  Gratiot,  and  superin 
tend  the  building  of  the  mill,  or  they  would  not  give 
me  the  contract  to  furnish  the  machinery  for  it;  this  I 
consented  to  do.  According  to  my  best  recollection  this 
was  in  the  summer  and  fall  of  1870.  The  masonry  for 
the  foundation  of  the  mill  was  laid  on  solid  rock ;  I  fur 
nished  the  machinery  from  the  firm  of  Messrs.  J.  S. 
Noyes  &  Co.,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  I  used  water  wheels, 
some  five  in  number,  manufactured,  I  think,  by  G.  E. 
Houston,  of  Beloit,  Wis.  The  building  of  this  mill  I 

117 


BEMINISCENCES 


enjoyed  very  much,  as  I  had  no  annoyance  from  the 
proprietors  and  they  did  not  ask  me  to  make  everything 
as  cheap  as  possible.  The  building  above  the  foundations 
was  of  wood.  I  built  all  in  a  first-class  manner,  accord 
ing  to  my  ideas  of  what  that  term  meant.  The  owners 
were  very  much  pleased  with  the  mill.  I  afterwards 
read  that  Charlie  Brunner,  the  junior  partner,  and 
his  wife  and  child  were  killed  in  the  Lake  Shore  R.  R. 
disaster,  which  occurred  near  Ashtabula,  O.  Thus,  at 
one  blow,  a  whole  family  was  destroyed.  He  was  a 
splendid  man  and  I  loved  him  very  much. 

I  planned  several  other  mills  that  summer.  In  1871 
I  took  a  contract  to  erect  water  works  for  fire  protection 
in  the  village  of  Watertown,  Wis.  At  my  request  Gen. 
"Gabe"  Bouck,  who  was  in  the  Wisconsin  legislature, 
caused  to  be  enacted  a  statute  permitting  villages  and 
cities  to  issue  bonds  to  pay  for  such  improvements.  The 
main  street  of  the  village  was  continued  across  the  dam 
which  backed  up  a  small  lake,  furnishing  a  good  supply 
of  water  but  a  low  head  ;  it  supplied  water  power  for  a 
flouring  mill,  and  the  owner  donated  the  water  to  the 
city  for  the  proposed  works.  I  set  a  six-foot  Houston 
wheel  on  iron  posts  which  stood  on  solid  rock,  and  built 
a  circular  flume  of  boiler  iron.  In  fact,  the  whole  outfit 
was  of  iron,  no  wood  at  all  about  it  The  water  pipes 
ran  up  through  the  streets  of  the  village  and  at  the 
different  street-corners  hydrants  were  attached  to  the 
pipes.  When  wanted  for  fire  purposes,  hose  was  attached 
to  the  hydrants.  While  I  was  building  these  water 
works  the  great  fire  at  Chicago  occurred.  We  heard 
rumors  of  that  fire  which  seemed  almost  incredible,  but 
they  were  confirmed  later,  so  the  next  day  I  went  to 
Chicago.  I  found  that  our  store,  No.  54,  or  56  Canal 


FEOM   NOBTH    TO    SOUTH  119 

Street,  had  escaped  the  general  destruction.  I  walked 
through  the  streets  on  the  south  side,  among  the  ruins; 
it  did  not  seem  possible  that  such  a  fire  could  have 
happened.  One  thing  that  surprised  me  was  that  the 
house  of  Mr.  W.  B.  Ogden,  built  of  wood  in  the  center 
of  a  square  on  the  north  side>  was  apparently  uninjured, 
while  everything  around  it  was  destroyed.  A  row  of 
fine  trees  surrounded  this  square  on  which  the  house 
was  built,  and  this  taught  me  that  green  trees  were  a 
great  protection  to  buildings  in  case  of-  a  conflagration. 
After  viewing  the  ruins  as  much  as  I  wished  I  returned 
to  Watertown,  the  accommodations  for  strangers  being 
very  limited. 

That  fall  I  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  village 
of  Black  River  Falls,  Wisconsin,  for  the  construction 
of  works  similar  to  those  erected  at  Watertown.  I  con 
tracted  for  the  water  pipe  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  it 
was  to  be  delivered  at  Black  Biver  Falls,  about  the  first 
of  November. 

After  completing  the  job  at  Watertown,  I  erected  a 
pump  in  the  large  saw  mill  of  D.  J.  Spaulding,  then 
president  of  the  village  of  Black  Eiver  Falls.  This 
gentleman  was  one  of  the  finest  men  it  has  ever  been 
my  pleasure  to  know.  Owing  to  the  quantity  of  freight 
on  the  lake  the  pipe  was  shipped  on  lie  last  boat  of  the 
season.  The  trenches  had  been  dug  through  the  streets 
and  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  pipe.  The  weather 
became  very  cold  and  the  ground  was  frozen  six  feet 
deep.  I  recollect  laying  the  pipe  one  day,  and  making 
the  lead  joints  when  the  thermometer  showed  twenty 
degrees  below  zero.  With  all  these  difficulties  to  con 
tend  against  I  completed  the  project,  gave  a  satisfactory 
exhibition  of  the  power  of  the  water,  received  my  pay 


120  REMINISCENCES 

and  went  home.  Mr.  S.  S.  Merrill,  superintendent  of 
the  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul  Railroad,  was  very  just  to 
me  in  repaying  over-charges  on  freight  collected  at 
Black  River  Falls  by  his  railroad. 

By  some  means  which  I  do  not  now  recall,  I  had 
obtained  the  agency  for  the  Northwest  of  the  celebrated 
carbolized  hose,  manufactured  by  the  Gutta-percha  & 
Rubber  Company  of  New  York.  The  sale  of  this  hose 
was  quite  remunerative  to  me,  as  I  received  a  commis 
sion  of  twenty-five  cents  per  foot  on  all  that  I  sold. 

The  next  summer,  I  think  in  1872,  I  made  arrange 
ments  with  Cole  Brothers,  of  Pawtucket2  Rhode  Island, 
to  sell  the  steam  fire  engines  manufactured  by  them. 
This  was  a  double-piston  machine  built  after  the  plan 
of  the  celebrated  Amoskeag  fire  engine.  It  was  a  lighter 
machine,  and  I  thought,  therefore,  preferable  for  use  in 
the  west,  where  the  streets  were  not  generally  so  well 
paved  then,  as  they  are  now.  I  sold  nine  of  these  Cole 
Brothers  fire  engines  the  next  year  after  I  took  the 
agency.  The  capital  of  the  firm  was  limited  and  I 
agreed  to  pay  a  certain  price  for  each  machine  ordered, 
and  take  my  chances  in  collecting  my  pay  from  the  towns 
where  I  sold  the  machines.  The  firm  agreed  to  deliver 
the  engine  at  the  point  where  I  should  sell  it,  and  to 
give  a  satisfactory  exhibition  of  its  workings.  I  fixed 
a  price  on  the  machines  that  would  allow  me  a  profit  of 
$500  per  engine. 

In  selling  these  engines  I  learned  a  good  deal  about 
the  inside  workings  of  municipal  politics.  My  principal 
competitor  in  the  business  was  the  Silsby  Company  of 
Lockport,  New  York,  though  I  had  several  other 
machines  to  compete  with,  the  Amoskeag,  Clapp  & 
Jones,  etc.  I  was  a  very  successful  salesman  and  it  waa 


FEOM    NORTH    TO    SOUTH  121 

seldom  that  I  lost  a  sale  of  either  flour  mill  supplies, 
mill  machinery,  hose,  belting  or  fire  engines.  The 
only  sale  of  a  fire  engine  that  I  lost  was  in  my  own 
city,  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin.  In  each  city  where  it  was 
decided  to  buy  a  fire  engine  the  people  would  resolve 
themselves  into  two  factions;  one  favoring  a  rotary, 
and  the  other  a  piston  machine.  In  almost  every 
instance  I  was  opposed  by  the  rotary  people.  For  the 
same  class  of  machine  they  asked  $1,000  more  than 
I  did,  which  one  thousand  dollars  they  often  used 
for  bribing  aldermen  or  others  to  help  them  make  a 
sale.  I  resolved  from  the  start  that  I  would  use  no 
bribery  methods,  and  during  all  the  time  that  I  was 
selling  fire  engines  I  never  offered  or  paid  any  city 
official  or  other  person  a  consideration  for  the  buying 
of  my  machine.  I  fought  the  rotary  people  "in  the 
open,"  and  usually  the  fight  was  a  very  strenuous  one. 
If  there  happened  to  be  machinists  among  the  alder 
men  I  sought  them  out  and  explained  to  them  the 
good  points  of  my  machine,  and  also  pointed  out  the 
defects  in  the  rotary  engine. 

I  remember  having  a  hard  fight  with  the  Silsby  people 
at  Oskaloosa,  Iowa.  I  either  saw  in  a  newspaper  or 
received  a  letter  that  they  were  going  to  buy  a  fire 
engine,  and  I  immediately  took  a  train  for  that  city. 
I  had  been  interviewing  the  aldermen,  explaining  the 
good  qualities  of  my  engine  for  about  twenty-four  hours, 
when  as  usual  a  Silsby  Company  agent  appeared.  There 
was  a  man  in  the  city  council  who  had  a  machine  shop, 
and  it  was  easy  to  convince  him  of  the  superiority  of 
my  machine,  but  another  man  in  the  council  who  was  a 
politician,  and  mixed  up  in  state  politics,  was  a 
smooth,  slick,  plausible  fellow.  At  first  he  was  quite 


122  EEMINISCENCES 

favorable  to  my  engine,  but  when  the  Silsby  man  arrived 
I  knew  I  should  have  him  to  fight,  judging  by  my  past 
experience  with  city  fathers.  It  was  evident  to  me  in  a 
very  short  time  that  this  alderman  was  "on  the  make.'7 
When  I  was  convinced  of  this  I  let  the  other  agent  have 
him. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  council  the  Silsby  agent  and  my 
self  both  appeared  to  represent  our  respective  machines. 
There  was  one  alderman,  I  think  they  called  him 
"judge,"  who  suggested  that  there  was  no  difference  in 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  two  machines,  so  far  as  he 
could  see.  I  told  the  council  they  could  have  my  engine 
for  $4,500,  but  no  less.  "The  Judge"  finally  made  a 
motion  for  adjournment  till  the  next  night,  and  then 
buy  the  engine  which  they  could  get  for  the  least  money. 
My  friends  told  me  the  next  day  that  Silsby's  agent  had 
agreed  to  underbid  me,  and  I  was  pretty  well  convinced 
that  he  would  sell  his  engine  to  the  city.  My  friends 
wanted  me  to  enter  into  competition  with  him,  and 
after  considerable  persuasion  I  told  my  supporters  in 
the  council  that  I  would  bid  against  the  Silsby  agent 
with  the  distinct  understanding  that  I  was  not  to  be 
bound  by  any  bid  I  made.  This  was  agreed  to  by 
them,  and  I  went  to  the  council  meeting  the  next  even 
ing  with  that  understanding.  The  "judge"  arose  and 
remarked  that  the  council  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  would  buy  the  machine  that  could  be  obtained 
for  the  least  money,  and  turning  to  me  he  inquired  at 
what  price  I  would  sell  to  the  city  a  second-class  fire 
engine.  I  replied  "$4,500."  He  then  turned  to  the 
Silsby  agent  and  asked  at  what  price  he  would  sell  his 
machine,  to  which  the  reply  was  "$4,400."  We  kept 
falling  in  price  until  my  competitor  struck  $2,500, 


FROM    NORTH    TO    SOUTH  123 

when  I  refused  to  go  any  lower.  The  council  then 
entered  into  a  contract  with  him  at  that  figure,  and  also 
contracted  with  me  for  two  thousand  feet  of  carbolized 
hose.  When  we  had  finished  I  turned  to  the  council 
and  said:  "I  congratulate  you  upon  having  purchased 
a  fire  engine  at  its  true  value.  That  is  the  price  at 
which  the  Silsby  Manufacturing  Company  will  sell 
their  machines  when  they  cannot  get  any  more  for  them. 
I  could  not  sell  one  of  my  machines  for  less  than 
$4,500."  One  of  the  members  of  the  council  wished  to 
know  what  I  would  have  done  if  the  council  had 
accepted  one  of  my  bids.  I  replied  that  I  had  an  under 
standing  with  my  friends  in  the  council  that  no  bid  of 
mine,  less  than  $4,500  would  be  accepted,  and  that  it 
was  with  that  understanding  I  had  entered  into  compe 
tition  with  the  Silsby  representative,  for  the  purpose 
of  enabling  the  city  to  get  a  Silsby  engine  at  the  lowest 
possible  price.  I  then  turned  to  the  Silsby  agent  and 
said:  "You  establish  a  price  with  this  sale  which  will 
be  a  precedent ;  I  will  see  that  you  sell  no  more  machines 
at  over  $2,500." 

I  had  had  a  very  strenuous  conflict.  A  local  news 
paper  had  suddenly  become  very  much  interested  in  the 
Silsby  machine;  what  influenced  it  I  could  only  sur 
mise.  The  next  day  it  contained  a  bitter  attack  upon 
myself.  During  this  contest  I  had  not  slept  for  six  con 
secutive  days ;  when  it  was  all  over  I  went  back  to  Osh- 
kosh.  After  about  two  weeks  I  received  a  letter  from  a 
friend  in  Oskaloosa  saying  that  he  thought  if  I  would 
visit  the  town  at  once  I  could  sell  it  my  fire  engine;  I 
took  the  next  train  for  that  city.  On  arrival  I  learned 
that  the  Silsby  Company  had  repudiated  the  contract 
their  agent  had  made  with  the  city,  stating  that  he  had 


124  REMINISCENCES 

exceeded  his  authority  and  that  $4,000  was  their  lowest 
price.  My  friends  were  indignant,  and  took  the  posi 
tion  that  they  would  not  have  the  Silsby  machine  at  any 
price.  A  meeting  of  the  council  was  called  for  the  night 
of  my  arrival,  and  I  signed  a  contract  with  the  city  for 
a  Cole  Brothers  fire  engine  at  a  price  of  $4,500.  The 
machine  was  delivered  in  due  time,  and  found  satis 
factory. 

In  the  spring  of  1874  the  city  of  Oshkosh  decided 
to  buy  an  additional  fire  engine.  I  interviewed  the  chair 
man  of  the  fire  committee  in  regard  to  the  Coles  Brothers 
machine;  he  asked  me  to  have  one  made  for  that  city 
and  to  bring  it  to  Oshkosh,  saying  that  if  it  proved  a 
good  machine  the  city  would  buy  it.  This  man  I  had 
known  ever  since  I  came  to  Oshkosh  in  1855,  and  I 
considered  him,  something  more  than  an  acquaintance. 
During  the  time  I  had  known  him,  he  had  migrated  to 
Colorado,  become  interested  in  some  mines,  which  he 
had  sold  immediately  after  the  civil  war  to  New  York 
parties,  and  was  reported  to  have  a  good  deal  of  money. 
He  had  afterwards  returned  to  Oshkosh,  built  a  fine 
residence,  also  a  saw  mill,  had  bought  pine  lands,  be 
coming  a  prominent  lumberman,  and  was  one  of  the 
city  fathers.  I  had  the  engine  built  and  brought  to 
Oshkosh,  gave  an  exhibition  with  it,  and  stored  it  in 
the  engine  house  on  the  south  side. 

"Jack"  Hasbrouck,  the  fire  marshal  of  the  city,  took 
out  my  engine  during  a  conflagration  among  some  lum 
ber  piles  one  night,  and  used  it  to  fight  the  flames.  The 
fire  department,  and  citizens  generally,  were  pleased 
with  the  good  conduct  of  the  machine,  and  praised  it 
highly.  I  thought  this  would  decide  its  purchase,  but 
no  action  was  taken  by  the  council.  I  was  satisfied  that 


FROM    NOIiTH    TO    SOUTH 

the  delay  was  caused  by  the  action  of  the  gentleman 
above  alluded  to,  Mr.  Doe,  who  stated  that  the  Silsby 
Company  were  building  a  machine  to  bring  into  compe 
tition  with  mine.  I  told  him  that  I  would  not  enter 
into  competition  with  the  Silsby  engine;  that  they 
would  build  a  first-class  engine  of  greater  weight  and 
capacity  than  mine,  and  I  would  of  course  be  beaten  in 
a  contest  with  it.  My  machine  stayed  in  the  Brook 
lyn  engine-house  awaiting  developments.  Not  long 
after  I  was  in  my  own  home  in  Oshkosh  on  a  visit  to 
my  family,  in  May,  1874,  when  my  father-in-law  came 
to  me  and  asked  me  to  ride  with  him  to  the  city.  On 
the  way  he  told  me  about  a  project  he  was  considering. 
It  seemed  that  some  parties  had  appeared  in  Oshkosh 
having  for  sale  some  seventy-five  thousand  acres  of 
railroad  pine  lands  in  Florida  and  some  local  persons 
lacking  the  capital  necessary  for  the  purchase,  had 
asked  Mr.  Hubbard  to  join  them.  He  said  that  these 
men  had  been  down  and  examined  the  lands,  that  the 
young  man  who  was  book-keeper  at  the  Wakefield  flour- 
mill  had  gone  with  them  to  learn  what  he  could,  pledg 
ing  to  give  Mr.  Hubbard  a  correct  account  of  things  in 
Florida  as  he  should  find  them ;  that  he  had  returned 
and  made  his  report.  To  insure  the  full  interest  of  this 
young  man,  my  father-in-law  had  told  him  that  if  he 
saw  any  good  bargains  in  that  state,  that  he  would  join 
him  in  their  purchase.  The  book-keeper  brought  the  re 
port  that  he  had  secured  a  saw-mill  plant  and  six  thou 
sand  acres  of  land  for  $26,000,  paying  $1,000  down  and 
agreeing  to  pay  $10,000  more  in  thirty  days.  Then  my 
father-in-law  went  on  to  say  that  he  was  getting  to  be 
an  old  man,  was  troubled  with  rheumatism,  that  he 
wished  to  go  to  a  milder  climate,  that  he  wished  to  put 


126  REMINISCENCES 

his  nephew  into  a  business  which  would  give  him  some 
thing  to  do,  and  that  he  also  thought  it  might  suit  me  to 
go  to  Florida  and  engage  in  the  lumber  business  so  he 
thought  he  would  invest.  I  replied,  "Mr.  Hubbard,  I 
have  been  influenced  in  the  past  by  the  advice  of  others, 
but  in  the  future  I  mean  to  act  only  upon  my  own 
judgment  in  matters  of  business.  I  cannot  tell  what  I 
would  like  to  do,  until  I  have  examined  this  proposition 
myself  and  formed  my  own  conclusions."  He  replied 
that  he  wished  I  would  go  and  see  the  property  and  tell 
him  what  I  thought  about  it  I  suggested  that  this 
would  cost  considerable  in  both  time  and  money.  He 
appeared  to  be  quite  anxious  for  me  to  go,  however,  and 
said,  if  I  should  see  fit  to  enter  the  project  that  he 
would  furnish  the  money  to  run  the  business  in  good 
shape.  We  interviewed  Mr.  Johnson,  the  book-keeper 
referred  to,  and  he  was  very  optimistic  about  the  affair, 
saying  that  there  was:  "Thousands  in  it." 

It  was  consequently  arranged  that  in  ten  days'  time 
I  should  meet  Mr.  Johnson  in  Chicago  and  that  we 
would  proceed  to  Pensacola  and  together  examine  the 
property  for  which  he  had  bargained. 

I  had  some  sales  of  fire  engine-hose  in  the  western 
part  of  Wisconsin  also  in  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis 
that  I  wished  to  close  up  and  I  had  some  collections  to 
make  in  the  same  territory.  After  completing  these 
affairs,  I  met  Mr.  Johnson  in  Chicago  as  planned.  He 
brought  me  from  Mr.  Hubbard  $10,000  in  Xew  York 
Exchange  payable  to  my  order,  with  instructions  that 
if,  in  my  opinion  the  property  was  worth  the  sum 
agreed  upon,  that  I  should  buy  it.  We  left  the  north  in 
May,  for  the  "Land  of  flowers." 

I  had  some  relatives  living  in  Florida  who  had  been 


FBOM    NORTH    TO    SOUTH  127 

there  since  abefo  'de  wah."  The  husband  of  a  cousin 
was  in  the  lumber  business  at  a  place  called  Bagdad, 
Florida,  Scon  after  arriving  in  Pensacola  I  learned 
that  a  steamer  was  going  to  this  place  with  a  party  of 
people  who  were  to  attend  an  entertainment  for  the 
benefit  of  a  local  church.  I  was  invited  to  join  the 
excursion,  and  did  so.  We  arrived  after  dark.  I  had 
not  seen  my  cousin  for  twenty  years,  but  was  invited 
to  her  home  and  was  hospitably  received.  Their  house 
was  a  fine  old  mansion  surrounded  by  live  oaks  and 
other  handsome  trees.  It  was  a  very  pleasing  home. 

Every  one  had  a  good  time,  and  after  the  entertain 
ment,  which  had  been  held  in  the  church,  the  steamer 
returned  to  Pensacola  with  its  passengers. 

In  deciding  about  the  business  venture,  my  chief 
desire  was  of  course,  to  see  the  pine  lands.  I  knew  that 
a  sawmill  was  valueless  without  saw-logs,  and  I  wished 
to  learn  if  the  forests  would  yield  a  supply  of  logs  for 
a  good  many  years.  The  agent  of  the  railroad  offering 
this  land  for  sale,  was  a  Mr.  Peter  Knowles,  a  long  time 
resident  of  Florida,  in  fact  since  before  the  "late 
unpleasantness."  He  was  a  very  genial  gentleman, 
liked  good  things  to  eat  and  drink  and  a  good  time 
generally.  He  procured  a  two-seated  covered  wagon, 
for  our  journey,  in  which  he  placed  provisions  for  our 
comfort.  This  was  propelled  by  a  pair  of  mules  and  a 
negro  driver.  We  crossed  the  river  at  Ferry  Pass,  an 
arm  of  Escainbia  Bay,  and  landed  on  terra  firma  at 
Florida  Town,  where  we  struck  the  pine  lands  which  I 
wished  to  see.  We  rode  from  Florida  Town  nearly 
northward,  traversing  the  highest  land. 

These  pine  woods  were  different  from  any  forests  I 
had  ever  seen.  The  ground  was  covered  with  a  fine 


128  REMINISCENCES 

green  grass  which  looked  like  a  gentleman's  lawn.  The 
trees  were  very  stately  and  handsome,  most  of  them 
forty  or  fifty  feet  to  the  limbs,  the  tops  covered  with 
green  pine  needles  which  grew  in  clusters.  There  was 
no  underbrush  and  no  obstruction  except  where  some 
tree  had  been  burned  or  blown  down,  and  lay  with  its 
long  trunk  on  the  ground.  One  could  drive  in  any 
direction  in  these  woods.  All  that  was  necessary  to 
know  was  the  points  of  the  compass.  It  seemed  like 
sacrilege  for  man  to  come  and  cut  down  these  magnifi 
cent  trees.  I  wished  often,  in  the  years  to  come,  that  I 
need  not  do  this. 

We  traveled  that  day  about  twenty-five  miles  through 
this  beautiful  forest.  In  later  years  it  was  my  fortune 
to  own  most  of  these  lands  and  at  one  time  I  could  ride 
thirty  miles  in  a  northerly  direction  and  be  upon  my 
own  land  all  the  time. 

Every  few  miles  through  these  woods  could  be  found 
a  "squatter."  These  men  would  cut  down  a  few  trees, 
build  a  log  house,  clear  up  a  few  acres  upon  which  to 
raise  cotton,  corn  and  sweet  potatoes.  His  pigs,  sheep 
and  cattle  would  find  their  own  living  in  the  woods, 
and  all  the  squatter  had  to  do,  to  secure  the  ownership, 
was  to  brand  them  while  they  were  young.  The  names 
of  these  settlers  would  indicate  that  the  majority  of 
them  were  of  Scotch  extraction.  These  were  the  origi 
nal  Florida  "crackers."  There  were  no  schools  among 
them,  during  the  days  of  slavery ;  and  a  great  many  of 
them  were  unable  to  read  or  write  their  own  names. 
They  prided  themselves  that  a  white  man  would  not 
steal.  This  fact  in  their  estimation  raised  them  far 
above  the  negroes,  for  whom  they  had  great  contempt; 
per  contra;  the  negroes  entertained  a  very  low  opinion 


FROM    NORTH    TO    SOUTH  129 

of  the  poor  whites,  while  they  cherished  a  deep  vene 
ration  for  their  own  masters.  We  stayed  all  night  with 
a  squatter  who  entertained  us  hospitably  at  his  house 
not  far  from  the  Alabama  line.  I  certainly  enjoyed 
those  woods  and  my  admiration  for  them  has  never 
lessened. 

In  the  morning  we  started  on  our  return,  but  by  an 
other  road,  so  we  traveled  through  new  forests  all  the 
time.  At  night  we  arrived  at  a  sawmill  not  far  from 
the  Escambia  River,  and  were  hospitably  entertained 
by  the  owner,  Mr.  R.  D.  Byrne  who  invited  us  to  spend 
the  night  at  his  house.  I  recollect  that  we  passed  the 
evening  around  the  fireplace,  although  it  was  in  the 
month  of  June,  and  that  the  fire  felt  very  comfortable. 
We  conversed  about  the  country's  possibilities,  and  of 
the  forests,  meanwhile  smoking  our  cigars.  The  next 
day  we  returned  to  Florida  Town,  and  visited  the  mill 
that  was  involved  in  the  purchase.  This,  I  think,  was 
naturally  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  I  have  ever 
seen  in  Florida.  The  mill  was  situated  on  Escambia 
Bay  at  a  point  where  it  was  about  two  miles  wide,  and 
directly  under  a  bluff  that  towered  about  eighty  feet 
above  the  water,  and  which  gradually  sloped  to  the 
water's  edge.  This  incline  was  covered  with  a  thick 
forest,  consisting  mostly  of  live  oak  trees,  from  whose 
limbs  hung  festoons  of  grey  Florida  moss,  reminding 
one  of  Santa  Glaus  with  his  grey  hair  and  whiskers. 
On  the  top  of  this  bluff  was  the  residence  of  the  mill 
owner,  in  a  clearing  of  ten  acres.  The  house  was 
surrounded  with  crepe  myrtles  twenty-five  feet  high, 
and  now  in  full  bloom.  In  the  front  yard  were  two 
gigantic  live  oaks,  quite  shapely  and  beautiful.  On 
each  side  of  the  front  porch  were  two  fine  Japanese 


130  EEMINISCENCES 

plum  trees,  the  largest  that  I  have  ever  seen  of  this 
variety.  In  the  rear  of  the  house  were  two  very  large 
magnolias,  and  other  trees;  sycamore,  mulberry  and 
black  oak.  In  the  yard  were  several  large  arbors  of 
scuppernong  grapes.  In  the  garden  were  peach  trees 
in  full  bearing.  It  seemed  as  if  a  man  with  a  con 
tented  mind  might  find  here:  "Paradise  regained." 

From  the  mill  we  returned  to  Pensacola  and  stopped 
at  what  was  called  the  Santa  Rosa  Hotel.  Whether  this 
was  built  before  or  since  the  war  I  am  unable  to  tell. 
It  was  three  stories  in  height  while  most  of  the  build 
ings  of  the  town  were  but  one. 

A  Mrs.  Hickey  was  boarding  at  this  hotel  and  she  had 
a  mocking  bird  which  she  had  educated  as  a  songster. 
In  the  morning  we  were  awakened  by  the  most  raptur 
ous  singing  to  which  I  had  ever  listened.  The  bird 
appeared  to  be  in  a  very  ecstacy  of  excitement  and  it 
made  so  much  noise  that  it  was  impossible  for  one  to 
go  to  sleep  again.  I  had  never  before  heard  a  mocking 
bird,  and  was  charmed  as  I  listened,  so  much  so  that 
I  obtained  a  young  one  and  took  it  with  me  to  Oshkosh. 
I  imagine  however,  that  it  needed  the  training  of  other 
birds.  After  a  lingering  and  uneventful  existence  it 
died. 

At  this  time  there  were  two  private  banking  houses 
in  Pensacola:  Hyer  Brothers  and  C.  L.  Le  Baron.  In 
making  out  the  papers  for  the  purchase,  I  had  the  mill 
and  lands  deeded  to  Mr.  Hubbard,  rather  than  have 
them  deeded  to  the  new  firm  and  they  give  a  mortgage 
to  him.  I  knew  this  would  make  Mr.  Hubbard  safe, 
regardless  of  what  might  happen  to  the  rest  of  us.  I 
also  agreed  to  take  the  stock  of  goods  in  the  store  at 
a  fair  valuation.  After  this  business  was  finished,  I 


FROM  NORTH  TO  SOUTH  131 

returned  to  Oshkosh,  leaving  Mr.  Johnson  to  inventory 
the  stock  and  have  the  care  and  custody  of  the  property. 
When  I  arrived  at  Oshkosh,  Mr.  Hubbard  refused  to 
give  a  note  to  secure  the  balance  due  on  the  property, 
but  was  willing  to  give  a  mortgage  on  it  to  secure  the 
note  of  the  new  firm.  To  this  the  sellers  consented,  and 
the  purchase  of  the  property  was  consummated  in  that 
way. 

The  cost  of  the  mill  and  lands  was  $26,000.  The 
inventory  of  the  goods  in  the  store,  as  made  by  Mr. 
Johnson,  showed  a  value  of  $3,000.  While  the  forego 
ing  settlement  was  in  progress,  Mr.  Hubbard  one  morn 
ing  called  me  into  his  room  and  said:  "Mr.  Skinner, 
I  am  sick  of  that  investment  of  yours  in  Florida;  1 
want  you  to  go  to  Pensacola  and  get  what  you  can  of 
that  $10,000  and  let  the  trade  go."  I  replied,  "Mr. 
Hubbard,  I  do  not  see  how  I  can  do  this.  If  the 
parties  thought  we  were  sick  of  the  trade  they  would 
not  return  any  of  the  money;  if  I  went  down  there  and 
made  a  settlement  of  the  trade  which  involved  a  loss 
to  you,  you  would  always  blame  me,  unless  I  made 
good  the  loss  to  you,  so  I  am  not  willing  to  do  as  you 
request.  I  believe  the  property  is  a  bargain  at  the 
price  which  we  paid  for  it."  After  this  interview,  my 
father-in-law  never  referred  to  the  subject  again. 

Sometime  in  the  summer  following  my  return  from 
Florida,  the  new  Silsby  fire  engine  appeared  in  Osh 
kosh.  Mr.  Doe  sent  me  a  challenge  asking  a  trial  of 
capacity  between  it  and  my  engine,  but  I  flatly  refused 
to  make  any  test  of  the  kind.  In  consequence  I  was 
bullied  incessantly  by  Mr.  Doe  and  the  supporters  of 
the  Silsby  engine.  Jack  Hasbrouck  the  chief  of  the 
fire  department,  was  very  confident  that  my  machine 


132  REMINISCENCES 

would  be  victorious,  as  were  numerous  other  adherents 
of  the  piston  engine,  and  after  much  worry,  in  a  weak 
moment  I  consented  to  make  the  test.  The  engineer 
for  the  Cole  Brothers  machine  had  returned  to  Paw- 
tucket  before  I  made  my  trip  to  Florida ;  while  Silsby's 
expert  engineer  was  on  hand  to  run  his  machine.  The 
excitement  in  Oshkosh  over  the  two  engines  was  intense ; 
I  have  never  seen  a  political  contest  engender  so  much 
feeling  as  existed  then  between  the  supporters  of  the 
two  fire  engines.  The  day  of  the  trial  proved  a  beauti 
ful  one,  and  there  were  as  many  spectators  present  as 
would  have  been  called  out  by  a  well  advertised  circus. 
The  result  of  the  trial  was — in  the  parlance  of  the 
initiated — that  the  Cole  Brothers  machine  was 
"washed."  Mr.  Doe  influenced  the  city  to  buy  the 
Silsby  engine  and  it  was  named  the  "Doe"  after  him. 

The  agent  of  the  Silsby  engine  also  contracted  with 
the  city  to  furnish  it  two  thousand  feet  of  carbolized 
hose,  but  in  a  short  time  the  city  was  notified  that  it 
could  not  get  carbolized  hose,  unless  they  procured  it 
of  me.  Doe  was  furious  and  said  that  the  city  should 
not  buy  any  from  me.  So  Mr.  Sam  Hay  was  instructed 
by  the  city  council  to  purchase  two  thousand  feet  of 
carbolized  hose  for  the  city.  He  also  found  that  he 
could  purchase  only  through  me,  and  so  reported  to 
Mr.  Doe.  I  then  offered  to  supply  Mr.  Hay  and  divide 
the  commissions  with  him,  which  he  was  willing  to  do 
provided  the  council  would  sanction  the  deal.  A  meet 
ing  was  called  to  consider  the  matter  and  this  I  at 
tended.  After  the  usual  preliminaries  the  matter  of  the 
hose  was  taken  up.  Mr.  Doe  stated  the  situation  as  re 
ported  by  Mr.  Hay,  to  the  fire  committee  and  then 
said  that  an  agent  of  the  manufacturer  of  the  carbolized 


FROM    NORTH    TO    SOUTH  133 

hose  had  attempted  to  tribe  him  by  offering  a  large 
amount  of  belting  for  his  saw  mill,  if  he  would  give  his 
consent  to  the  buying  of  the  carbolized  hose  for  the  city. 
I  was  sitting  on  a  back  seat  provided  for 
spectators  and  when  Mr.  Doe  sat  down  I  arose 
and  said  to  the  council  that  Mr.  Doe's  state 
ment  that  he  had  been  offered  a  bribe  by 
an  authorized  agent  of  the  manufacturers  was  un 
qualifiedly  false;  that  such  business  they  left  to  the 
Silsby  Company.  The  mayor  who  was  presiding  at 
the  meeting,  informed  me  that  no  person  was  allowed 
to  address  the  council  without  first  obtaining  consent. 

The  meeting  soon  adjourned  and  Mr.  Doe  walked 
into  the  lobby.  He  was  a  large  man,  with  a  loud  voice, 
and  had  the  reputation  of  having  been  in  his  younger 
days  something  of  a  sport.  He  was  threatening  to 
knock  somebody's  head  off  his  shoulders.  I  cut  short 
the  conversation  I  was  having  with  a  member  of  the 
council  and  stepping  into  the  lobby,  met  the  gentleman, 
to  whom  I  said:  "Mr.  Doe,  why  do  you  make  such  a 
fool  of  yourself?  You  would  not  strike  me  and  you 
know  it." 

Mr.  Doe  made  some  farther  efforts  to  obtain  the  hose 
from  some  other  source  but  failed  and  after  a  little 
delay  the  city  gave  me  the  order  for  the  carbolized  hose. 
But  I  still  had  my  fire  engine  on  hand  and  sought  a 
city  to  which  I  might  sell  it.  I  had  sold  a  third-class 
fire  engine  to  the  city  of  Houghton,  Michigan,  and 
thought  that  I  might  perhaps  sell  this  one  to  the  city 
of  Hancock,  just  across  the  lake  from  Houghton.  I 
had  little  difficulty  in  making  the  sale.  I  delivered  the 
machine  and  it  proved  very  satisfactory  to  the  pur 
chasers. 


CHAPTEK  XL 

A  BEAUTIFUL  FOREST. 

I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Johnson,  who  was  still  at 
Escambia,  that  yellow-fever  was  epidemic  in  Pensacola 
and  that  it  would  not  be  safe  for  me  to  come  down  there 
with  my  family  until  after  a  frost. 

It  was  therefore  in  early  November,  1874,  that  with 
my  wife,  my  son  and  my  partner  Ebenezer  II.  Hub- 
bard,  I  started  for  Florida.  I  do  not  recall  the  incidents 
of  that  journey  until  we  reached  Decatur,  Alabama. 
At  that  time  the  road  between  Louisville  and  Pensacola, 
now  known  as  the  Louisville  and  Nashville,  was  com 
posed  of  short,  independent  lines.  I  think  the  road 
from  Decatur  to  Montgomery  was  known  as  the  Ala 
bama  Southern;  from  Montgomery  to  Mobile  as  the 
Montgomery  and  Mobile,  and  from  Flomaton  to  Pensa 
cola  as  the  Pensacola  and  Louisville  Railroad. 

We  missed  connections  at  Decatur  and  stopped  at 
the  Polk  House  for  about  twelve  hours.  Our  train 
did  not  arrive  until  about  12  o'clock  at  night,  and  we 
sat  up  in  the  parlor  of  the  hotel  waiting  for  it,  the 
daughter  of  the  landlord  meanwhile  amusing  us  by 
entertaining  her  beau.  At  this  time  there  were  no  Pull 
man  cars  on  this  route;  the  coaches  were  very  plain, 
and  usually  dirty,  but  we  had  to  content  ourselves  as 
best  we  could  with  the  accommodations  at  hand. 

The  next  day  about  dark  we  arrived  at  Oakfield  six 
miles  north  of  Pensacola,  and  were  informed  that  it 

134 


A   BEAUTIFUL    FOREST  135 

was  not  safe  to  go  any  farther.  Several  colored  people 
were  awaiting  our  arrival  to  take  us  to  Escambia.  I 
was  suffering  with  a  terrible  headache,  and  so  my  wife 
and  I  stopped  at  a  large  house  where  a  number  of 
refugees  from  Pensacola  had  made  their  home  during 
the  prevalence  of  yellow  fever.  These  were  seeking  in 
various  ways  to  amuse  themselves  and  drive  dull  care 
away.  Ill  as  I  was  I  found  much  to  divert  me  in  the 
stories  of  a  certain  gentleman;  they  were  impossible 
and  humorous;  one  of  the  stories  I  recall  even  now. 
It  was  of  a  dog,  born  without  any  forelegs  and  the 
owner  to  mitigate  somewhat  this  misfortune  had  a 
couple  of  wheels  made  and  placed  where  the  dog's  fore- 
legs  should  have  been.  The  dog  after  that  propelled 
himself  with  his  hind  legs,  would  chase  chickens  and 
pigs  with  great  zeal,  and  also  guard  his  master's  front 
gate  against  intruders. 

The  next  morning  our  teams  came  for  us  and  we  went 
to  Escambia,  about  six  miles  across  the  country.  On 
arriving  there  we  examined  the  house  and  found  that  it 
had  eleven  outside  doors,  each  fastened  with  only  a 
button;  that  the  openings  where  the  windows  should 
have  been,  were  filled  by  solid  wooden  blinds ;  one  room 
had  four  small  glass  windows  which  had  evidently 
been  appropriated  from  some  schooner.  I  do  not  recol 
lect  how  we  provided  ourselves  with  board  and  lodg 
ings  until  my  household  goods  arrived  from  Wisconsin. 

I  found  the  mill  sawing  out  a  cargo  of  Rio  deals 
for  South  America.  We  bought  our  logs  from  people 
who  lived  back  in  the  country,  who  put  them  in  cribs  of 
about  twenty  logs  each,  by  pinning  a  pole  across  each 
end  of  the  logs.  In  this  manner  we  secured  all  we  could 
saw  until  about  the  year  1879.  I  then  learned  that 


136  REMINISCENCES 

there  had  been  in  1873  a  great  depression  in  the  lum 
ber  and  timber  business  at  Pensacola;  that  the  shippers 
had  met  with  great  losses  that  year  and  that  some  of 
them  had  become  bankrupt 

It  was  the  custom  in  the  port  of  Pensacola,  at  that 
time  for  the  merchants  to  buy  timber  and  lumber  from 
the  producers  and  ship  it  to  ports  all  over  the  world, 
where  they  could  find  a  market.  The  merchants 
usually  sold  cargoes  of  lumber  or  timber,  delivered  at 
destination ;  the  buyer  would  name  about  the  amount  of 
cargo  wanted,  the  merchant  would  charter  a  suit 
able  vessel,  load  the  cargo  and  ship  to  its 
destination.  In  selling  these  cargoes  there  were 
three  items  which  the  merchant  had  to  take 
into  consideration;  these  were  cost,  insurance  and 
freight.  What  he  was  paid  above  these  items  was 
his  profit  It  was  necessary  that  he  be  a  man  of  con 
siderable  means,  as  there  were  no  banks  of  large  capac 
ity  in  Pensacola  at  that  time,  the  bank  of  Hyer  Bros, 
being  in  process  of  liquidation.  These  sellers  assumed 
the  roles  both  of  shippers  and  bankers.  These  three 
items — cost,  insurance  and  freight,  were  matters  of 
much  variability.  The  merchant,  after  selling  his 
cargo,  had  to  buy  it  of  some  mill ;  if  hewn  timber  he  had 
to  contract  with  some  timber  getter  to  deliver  it  within 
a  certain  time,  at  a  certain  price.  The  matter  of  in 
surance  was  a  variable  quantity,  which  depended  upon 
the  rating  of  the  vessel,  and  the  month  of  the  year  in 
which  it  sailed.  The  freight  also  was  an  unknown 
quantity,  governed  by  the  scarcity  of  vessels  seeking 
freight  or  the  abundance  of  vessels  unchartered.  So  you 
will  perceive  that  the  seller  took  chances  which  might 


A   BEAUTIFUL   FOBEST  137 

cause  him  great  loss,  but  he  usually  took  these  risks 
with  the  nerve  of  a  gambler. 

The  conditions  of  this  trade  were  such  that  it  neces 
sarily  partook  of  the  nature  of  gambling.  The  buyers 
in  Europe  were  kept  well  posted  as  to  the  conditions  of 
the  local  market,  having  parties  here  who  were  their  em 
ployees  or  were  interested  with  them  in  the  business. 
About  this  time  and  after  I  came  here,  the  brokers  in 
England  who  made  the  sales  to  buyers  in  Great  Britain 
and  on  the  continent,  assumed  the  right  to  make  sales 
whenever  in  their  opinion  it  was  advantageous  to  them 
selves  to  do  so.  I  remember  the  case  of  a  mill  company 
which  came  here  from  Chicago  and  had  bought  some 
thing  like  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land 
in  the  state  of  Alabama  at  the  nominal  figure  of  a  few 
cents  per  acre.  The  men  were  wealthy  Chicago  lumber 
men  and  they  understood  the  lumber  business  in  Chi 
cago.  They  came  to  Pensacola  and  built  an  immense 
mill  capable  of  sawing  two  or  three  hundred  thousand 
feet  of  Michigan  white  pine  per  day.  They  sent  a  mer 
chant  to  England  to  make  sales  for  them,  paying  him 
a  commission  on  such  sales  as  he  might  make.  He  went 
there  and  sold  a  good  many  thousand  feet  of  lumber  and 
chartered  between  twenty  and  thirty  vessels.  After 
making  these  large  sales  he  came  home  and  informed 
t^e  mill  men  of  his  success  and  they  were  happy  to 
think  that  they  had  such  a  prosperous  season  before 
them.  In  the  early  winter  the  vessels  began  to  drop  in 
on  them.  In  the  sawing  of  the  pine  it  is  necessary  that 
the  lumber  should  have  a  chance  to  dry  out,  for  if  the  sap 
were  wet  the  lumber  would  stain  blue  in  the  vessel  and 
damage  its  value  on  delivery,  for  which  the  buyer  would 
demand  reclamation  from  the  shipper.  In  such  cases  as 


138  REMINISCENCES 

these  the  broker  selects  an  arbitrator  and  the  buyer  does 
the  same;  these  two  select  a  third  and  the  three  decide 
the  amount  the  shipper  must  allow  the  buyer  as  dam 
ages,  either  on  account  of  the  cargo  being  injured  in 
shipping,  or  not  being  as  specified  in  the  contract.  The 
award  of  such  arbitrators  is  usually  liberal  to  the  buyer. 

At  one  time  I  believe  these  mill  men  had  twenty  ves 
sels  in  port  for  cargo.  A  vessel,  when  chartered  for  a 
cargo  is  usually  ready  as  soon  as  she  has  her  ballast  out ; 
then  she  is  allowed  so  many  days  for  loading.  When 
such  days  have  expired  the  vessel  is  on  demurrage,  the 
amount  of  this  depending  upon  the  tonnage,  or  size. 
This  demurrage  is  a  part  of,  and  collectible  with  the 
freight  from  the  cargo,  amounting  usually  to  from  one 
to  two  hundred  dollars  per  day,  and  upwards.  The  lum 
ber  shipped  in  a  vessel  must  be  of  the  character,  size  and 
quantity  sold ;  if  it  is  not  it  may  be  rejected  in  toto,  or  a 
new  price  agreed  upon  that  the  buyer  may  choose  to 
make,  or  damages  may  be  claimed  for  non-delivery  of 
goods  bought.  The  result  of  the  experience  of  these 
men  the  first  year,  selling  their  lumber  in  such  ill-ad 
vised  manner,  put  them  in  such  financial  straits  that 
they  were  compelled  to  close  down  and  eventually  to  sell 
out  their  plant  at  a  price  that  put  them  out  of  business. 

I  recall  another  instance  similar  to  the  one  mentioned, 
in  which  a  partner,  a  reckless  character  who  should  have 
known  better  and  done  better,  one  fall  chartered  all  the 
vessels  he  could  find  in  Europe,  probably  getting  a  com 
mission  on  the  vessels'  charters.  The  ships  arrived  at 
Pensacola,  until  I  think  the  firm  had  thirty  vessels  in 
port  at  one  time,  and  though  quite  wealthy,  they  were 
reduced  to  bankruptcy  by  the  bad  conduct  of  this  part 
ner. 


A    BEAUTIFUL    FOEEST  139 

I  have  mentioned  these  two  instances  of  bad  manage 
ment,  in  order  to  show  that  a  vessel  when  engaged  must 
be  loaded  as  prescribed  in  the  charter-party.  Still 
greater  losses  have  been  made  by  ambitious  merchants 
attempting  to  corner  the  market  in  the  supply  of  sawn 
timber.  The  loss  of  a  dollar  on  a  stick  of  timber 
amounts  to  a  large  sum  of  money  in  the  purchase  of  two 
or  three  hundred  thousand.  In  the  height  of  business 
at  this  port,  one  firm,  if  I  remember  correctly,  loaded 
and  dispatched  as  many  as  one  hundred  and  forty  vessels 
in  one  year,  and  the  cargo  of  each  would  average  a  mil 
lion  feet  of  lumber. 

The  law  governing  these  transactions  is  very  complex 
and  intricate.  The  merchant  should  know  the  kind  of 
lumber  required  in  every  port  to  which  he  ships  lum 
ber,  for  scarcely  any  two  countries  require  the  same  di 
mensions  or  quaKty.  Lumber  for  shipment  abroad  is 
usually  sold  by  St.  Petersburg  standard,  which  is  nine 
teen  hundred  and  eighty  superficial  feet  and  the  price 
is  usually  specified  to  be  in  English  sterling  pounds, 
shillings  and  pence.  Freight  and  insurance  are  also 
generally  payable  in  English  money.  Timber,  both 
sawed  and  hewn,  is  sold  by  the  load — being  sixty  cubic 
feet.  Drafts  for  the  payment  of  cargoes  are  paid  in 
English  sterling  as  stated  above,  and  are  usually  drawn 
in  sets  of  three  and  on  time.  Sometimes,  however, 
buyers  wish  to  pay  in  the  currency  of  their  own  country. 
During  the  time  that  I  was  engaged  in  this  trade,  the 
buyers  so  disliked  to  lose  anything  on  a  cargo,  that 
they  would  use  any  means  to  place  the  loss  on  the 
seller,  just  or  unjust. 

The  pine  belt  that  at  one  time  existed  on  the  gulf 
coast  and  lower  Atlantic,  at  the  close  of  the  civil  war, 


140  BEMINISCENCES 

was  a  forest  of  great  extent.  Its  area  was  practically 
level  and  streams  were  found  in  almost  all  its  parts. 
Where  the  timber  was  not  in  easy  haul  of  the  streams,  it 
was  an  inexpensive  thing  to  build  railroads  to  the 
timber.  The  pine  at  this  writing  (1907)  in  comparison 
with  1865,  is  practically  exhausted.  Of  course  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  it  still  left ;  enough  to  give  employment  to 
lumber  men  for  several  decades ;  but  the  end  is  in  sight. 
It  seems  incredible  that  these  millions  of  acres  of  pine 
should  have  been  cut  off,  transferred  through  the  chan 
nels  of  commerce  to  other  climes,  and  so  few  people 
have  been  enriched  by  the  process.  I  have  lived  in  Pen- 
sacola  thirty-two  years  and  more;  I  have  seen  a  great 
many  people  with  small  means  engage  in  this  lumber 
business,  the  manufacturing  lumber  from  these  pine 
woods,  and  this  port  of  Pensacola  for  a  great  portion  of 
that  time  has  shipped  on  an  average  three  hundred  mil 
lion  feet  of  lumber  and  timber  per  year,  but  out  of  the 
men  engaged  in  denuding  these  forests,  I  cannot  at  pres 
ent  writing  recall  more  than  fifteen  who  have  accumu 
lated  over  $100,000  in  the  business.  A  great  many  en 
gaged  in  the  business  have  not  only  become  bankrupt, 
but  have  lost  large  sums  of  money  which  they  had  bor 
rowed  from  merchants,  still  others  lacked  practical 
knowledge  of  lumbering  or  ability  to  learn  it.  I  men 
tion  these  principal  items  of  risk,  for  the  purpose  of 
showing  the  hazards  encountered  by  a  stranger  in  en 
tering  this  region  and  business,  without  any  prior  know 
ledge  of  the  conditions  which  surround  it.  Almost 
every  person  coming  here  from  the  north  who  had  been 
a  successful  lumberman  in  the  white  pine  districts  of 
Wisconsin  or  Michigan  and  had  amassed  a  fortune 
there,  greater  or  less,  would  naturally  have  a  good  deal 


A    BEAUTIFUL    FOREST  14:1 

of  confidence  in  his  own  judgment  and  experience,  as  I 
discovered  upon  meeting  them,  and  it  would  usually  cost 
such  a  person  about  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  learn 
how  to  do  business  in  the  south.  I  remember  a  gentle 
man  from  Michigan  who  had  bought  mills  and  a  large 
tract  of  pine,  and  whom  I  casually  met  on  the  street  in 
Pensacola.  He  asked  me  to  meet  him  at  Millview  and 
instruct  him  as  to  the  proper  method  of  manufacturing 
his  lumber.  I  expressed  a  willingness  to  do  so,  as  I 
did  not  like  to  have  men  come  down  from  the  north  and 
lose  money.  He  said:  "I  will  write  you  when  I  get 
ready,  and  ask  you  to  come  over.  I  wish  first  to  get  a 
million  feet  of  lumber  piled  in  the  yard."  I  replied: 
"You  have  then  a  million  feet  of  lumber  sold?"  He 
rejoined,  "I  have  no  lumber  sold,  but  a  yard  looks  so 
much  better  with  lumber  piled  in  it."  I  said  to  him: 
"My  dear  sir,  it  is  right  there  you  are  making  a  mis 
take.  In  the  north  you  may  safely  manufacture  any 
amount  of  lumber  of  certain  dimensions,  and  it  is  al 
ways  salable  and  in  demand  in  that  market ;  as  much  so 
as  a  barrel  of  flour  or  a  barrel  of  pork,  but  in  this 
country  it  is  different ;  you  should  sell  your  lumber 
first,  and  then  manufacture  it.  You  may  have  a  mil 
lion  feet  of  lumber  in  your  yard,  and  you  probably 
would  not  get  a  chance  to  sell  it  in  a  year,  and  in  the 
meantime  the  lumber  would  decrease  in  value  one-half, 
from  the  effects  of  sun  and  rain."  This  idea  was  so 
different  from  his  experience  in  the  north  that  evidently 
it  did  not  impress  him  much.  He  continued  doing  busi 
ness  in  an  unsatisfactory  manner  for  about  a  year,  when 
he  sold  out  for  a  lump  sum  to  a  syndicate  in  England. 
The  buyers  told  me  that  the  lumber  he  sawed  (a  mil 
lion  feet)  was  still  in  the  yard  unsold,  and  that  they 


142  BEMINISCENCES 

would  be  glad  to  get  $6  per  thousand  feet  for  it.  The 
former  owner  had  paid  that  price  to  a  contractor  to 
cut  the  logs  off  his  own  land  and  deliver  them  to  his 
mill.  It  was  customary  then  for  log  contractors  to  re 
quire  of  the  mill  owners  sufficient  money  or  supplies 
to  enable  them  to  hire  men  to  cut,  teams  to  haul  and 
men  to  drive  the  logs,  before  they  would  go  to  work. 
Perhaps  they  did  with  these  supplies  or  money  as  they 
promised,  or  possibly  they  did  something  else  with  it, 
which  would  never  be  known.  These  log  contractors 
were  good  talkers  and  good  promisers;  many  of  them 
were  playing  a  game  they  were  familiar  with,  but  which 
the  "tenderfoot"  does  not  know. 

The  "cracker"  population  as  a  rule  were  irrespon 
sible  in  a  financial  transaction.  In  the  seventies,  soon 
after  the  war,  it  was  a  sentiment  prevalent  among  the 
crackers,  owing  to  their  prejudice  against  the  colored 
people,  to  hob-nob  with  the  more  educated  and  culti 
vated  class  of  whites,  who  thought  it  no  harm,  if  not 
indeed  a  praiseworthy  and  loyal  act,  to  cheat  and  bank 
rupt  the  man  from  the  north  who  came  here  to  get  rich 
out  of  them,  as  they  thought,  and  whom  they  called 
yankee,  as  a  term  of  reproach.  When  I  was  asked  if  I 
was  a  yankee  I  always  replied :  "That  I  was  a  born 
and  bred  yankee."  Of  course  at  the  present  time,  after 
thirty  years  of  experience  and  enlightenment,  that 
prejudice  exists  only  to  a  limited  extent,  and  that  prin 
cipally  among  the  women.  I  found  then  that  this  preju 
dice  existed  against  myself  to  a  considerable  degree,  but 
when  a  man  tried  to  do  an  unfriendly  thing,  I  at 
tempted  to  convince  him  that  it  was  a  game  that  two 
could  play,  and  that  he  would  gain  little  by  so  doing.  I 
think  I  did  not  suffer  from  this  sectional  prejudice  for 


A  BEAUTIFUL   FOREST  143 

more  than  six  years  after  my  arrival ;  it  died  out  very 
soon  after  the  white  population  got  political  possession 
of  the  state.  The  people  had  suffered  so  severely 
through  negro  legislation,  dominated  by  carpet  bag  in 
fluence,  that  the  irritation  was  natural ;  when  the  source 
of  the  injury  was  removed  the  irritation  vanished.  Dur 
ing  the  first  few  years  of  my  residence  at  Escambia  I 
found  difficulty  in  getting  many  of  the  best  logmen  to 
cut  for  my  firm.  In  1876  I  think  it  was,  the  lumber 
market  was  very  much  depressed  and  it  was  almost  im 
possible  to  sell  lumber  at  a  profit.  Two  or  three  men 
who  bought  logs  on  the  Escambia  River  closed  down 
their  mills  and  refused  to  take  any  more  from  their  log 
gers,  refusing  even  those  they  had  contracted  for.  These 
men  came  to  me  in  their  trouble,  to  sell  their  logs, 
though  they  had  formerly  refused  to  sell  to  me.  I  said 
to  them :  "All  right,  I  will  take  your  logs  as  long  as  I 
have  money  to  pay  for  them,  but  when  my  money  gives 
out  I  shall  have  to  stop  buying." 

In  those  early  years  of  living  at  Escambia  it  was  my 
custom  to  go  north  when  the  hot  weather  came.  During 
the  time  we  spent  away  traveling,  we  closed  down  the 
mill.  This  year  I  told  my  bookkeeper  when  I  left,  to 
buy  logs  as  long  as  he  had  any  money  in  the  bank,  then 
stop  buying.  When  I  returned  in  the  fall  I  found  that 
he  had  paid  out  what  money  I  had,  and  also  had  over 
drawn  my  account  at  the  bank  about  $10,000;  but  I 
had  a  fine  stock  of  logs  on  hand.  I  found  that  the  mar 
ket  was  much  better  than  when  I  had  left  in  the  spring. 
I  formed  a  shipping  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Hooten, 
of  Pensacola,  who  had  had  a  long  experience  in  ship 
ping  lumber  for  himself  or  in  the  employment  of 
others.  This  partner  had  sold  several  cargoes  to  be 


144  BEMINISCENCES 

shipped  abroad,  and  had  contracted  for  the  lumber  to  be 
furnished  by  other  mill  owners.  The  price  advanced 
on  lumber  from  $1  to  $2  per  thousand  feet  The  mill 
owners  had  neglected  to  buy  logs  and  could  not  get 
them  at  the  old  price,  when  the  vessels  arrived  for  their 
cargoes,  they  told  my  partner  that  I  had  bought  all  the 
logs  in  the  market,  knowing  what  was  going  to  hap 
pen,  and  that  I  had  the  logs  and  could  saw  the  lumber 
myself,  while  they  could  not  furnish  it.  I  had  thought 
this  state  of  affairs  would  come  about  and  had  gone  to 
work  preparing  the  lumber,  and  had  it  on  hand.  I  did 
not  let  my  partner  know  this  fact,  but  kept  him  in  "hot 
water"  by  asking  him  what  he  was  going  to  do.  He 
finally  acknowledged  his  helplessness,  that  he  could  not 
buy  the  lumber  anywhere.  I  said:  "You  represent 
your  company;  I  represent  Skinner,  Hubbard  &  Co. 
I  will  sell  you  the  lumber  at  $2  per  thousand  advance 
on  the  price  you  were  to  pay  the  other  parties  for  it" 
He  replied:  "I  accept  your  offer."  I  loaded  the  ves 
sels  all  in  good  time.  Then  I  said  to  him :  "Mr.  Hoo- 
ten,  you  send  those  parties  a  bill  for  the  difference  in 
price  between  the  contract  price  for  the  lumber  and 
that  which  you  had  to  pay  for  it ;  if  they  refuse  to  pay 
the  difference,  sue  them."  They  did  refuse;  we  sued 
them,  got  judgment  and  they  paid  the  judgment. 

When  I  came  to  Escambia  we  had  no  postoffice  there. 
I  arranged  with  the  postmaster  at  Pensacola  to  give  my 
mail  to  the  mail  carrier  who  carried  the  mail  between 
Pensacola  and  Milton  and  I  would  send  a  messenger  to 
Pritchard  Field  and  get  my  mail  as  the  carrier  passed 
that  point.  C.  L.  Le  Baron  had  a  private  telegraph  line 
from  Pensacola  to  Milton  and  I  put  a  private  line  from 
Escambia  to  Ferry  Pass.  I  hired  several  boy  operators, 


A    BEAUTIFUL    FOREST  145 

but  had  much  trouble  with  them  and  more  with  those 
employed  by  Le  Baron.  After  continuing  it  for  about 
a  year  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  line  was  more 
of  a  vexation  than  a  convenience,  and  I  gave  it  up.  In 
1878  my  partner,  having  been  accustomed  to  city  life, 
with  nothing  to  attend  to,  went  home  to  his  uncle  and 
refused  to  come  back. 

I  heard  of  the  wonderful  telephone  (the  telephone  is 
as  wonderful  to  me  today  as  it  was  then),  I  received  a 
letter  from  a  cousin  of  my  wife  who  was  operating  one, 
giving  it  unstinted  praise.  I  had  never  seen  a  telephone 
myself;  there  were  none  in  Florida  so  far  as  I  knew. 
In  1880  I  put  up  a  line  from  Escambia  to  Pensacola, 
placing  the  Pensacola  end  of  the  wire  in  the  office  of 
my  friend,  Col.  Geo.  E.  Wentworth.  It  Worked  very 
satisfactorily,  and  was  a  great  curiosity,  being  the  first 
telephone  in  that  part  of  Florida,  if  not  in  the  state. 

I  needed  a  light-draught  tugboat  to  tow  lumber  and 
logs;  one  that  I  could  run  through  the  narrows  in  the 
sound  up  to  Choctawhatchie  Bay,  as  well  as  operate  in 
Escambia  Bay  and  River.  I  concluded  to  go  to  Oshkosh 
and  buy  a  tug;  one  of  those  used  at  that  place  for  tow 
ing  logs  and  lumber.  I  bought  a  nearly  new  boat ;  one 
of  the  best,  if  not  the  best  in  those  waters.  My  partner, 
Eben.  Hubbard,  went  up  to  Oshkosh  to  take  passage 
on  the  boat  and  come  down  with  it,  and  he  had  quite 
an  interesting  trip.  The  tug  went  up  the  Fox  River 
and  through  the  canal  which  connected  that  river  with 
the  Wisconsin  River,  down  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Mis 
sissippi,  down  the  latter  to  the  jetties  and  into  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  She  then  had  to  work  her  way  north 
ward  among  the  Chandelier  Islands  into  Mississippi 
Sound  and  through  that  to  Mobile  Bay,  and  from  Mo- 


146  REMINISCENCES 

bile  Bay  to  Pensacola  Bay  through  the  Gulf.  This  tug 
was  built  for  use  in  fresh  waters,  and  had  no  condenser, 
her  trip  through  salt  water  caused  her  boiler  to  foam, 
which  interfered  with  her  steaming.  When  the  boat 
reached  Escambia  the  men  were  very  much  pleased 
that  the  trip  was  ended ;  the  voyage  having  been  made 
for  them  through  unknown  waters.  To  have  made  such 
a  trip  without  accident  and  nearly  on  the  schedule  time 
(made  previous  to  leaving  Oshkosh)  was  very  grati 
fying- 

At  that  time  it  was  customary  for  men  employed  on 
the  inland  waters  of  Pensacola  Bay  to  amuse  themselves 
by  telling  frightful  stories  of  sickness  and  death  to 
tenderfeet  just  from  the  north.  Capt.  Colburn,  of  the 
tug  Hercules,  was  very  susceptible  to  these  fairy  tales, 
and  his  fear  being  noticeable  made  him  a  shining  mark 
for  the  story  teller.  I  kept  him  busy  towing  logs  from 
Choctawhatchie  Bay  to  the  mill.  A  few  months  after 
his  arrival  at  the  port  he  was  taken  sick  while  at  Free- 
port  and  was  very  badly  frightened,  and  notwithstand 
ing  he  was  to  be  part  owner  of  the  boat  and  captain 
of  it,  he  made  up  his  mind  to  get  out  of  the  country 
while  his  life  remained,  and  return  to  Oshkosh. 

At  the  time  of  my  arrival  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
malarial  and  break-bone  fever.  Considering  the  way 
the  natives  lived,  the  mystery  to  me  was  that  they  did 
not  all  die,  and  not  that  many  of  them  were  taken  ill.  Dr. 
John  Brosnaham  moved  to  Gull  Point,  about  three 
miles  down  the  bay,  the  year  after  I  came  to  Escambia, 
and  was  a  great  help  to  me  in  keeping  my  family  and 
employees  well.  He  made  calomel  pills  with  which  he 
always  kept  me  supplied.  He  had  several  grades  of 
these  pills,  of  different  strength;  the  mildest  pills  he 
called  "little  cusses,"  next  were  the  "royal  Bengal  ti- 


A    BEAUTIFUL    FOKEST  14:7 

gers,"  the  most  powerful  were  "little  hell."  Either 
kind  could  be  administered  to  the  patient,  as  his  condi 
tion  might  require.  It  was  remarkable  the  uniformity 
with  which  these  pills  relieved  the  patient. 

The  principal  diet  of  the  crackers  at  this  time  was 
hog  and  hominy,  intermixed  with  greens  when  the  lat 
ter  could  be  had.  The  hoecake  was  made  by  mixing 
cornmeal  and  water,  with  a  little  salt,  putting  it  on  a 
shovel  and  baking  it  over  a  coal  fire;  the  bacon  was 
fried  in  a  skillet.  In  the  fall  they  would  make  some 
cane  syrup,  and  when  in  funds  some  wheat  flour,  which 
they  would  mix  and  bake  as  hoecake.  This  was  at  times 
the  principal  food  of  the  negroes  and  poor  crackers,  and 
sometimes  the  "little  hell"  pills  were  required  to  pro 
duce  any  effect. 

Until  1878  I  had  kept  myself  in  fairly  good  health 
with  the  contents  of  numerous  bottles  of  Simmons'  liver 
regulator.  I  went  north  that  summer  to  New  York, 
where  I  spent  several  days  with  a  Mr.  Colquett  who  was 
a  buyer  and  shipper  of  pitch  pine  lumber  from  the 
Atlantic  coast  ports.  I  was  anxious  to  learn  how  they 
inspected  lumber  in  New  York  when  it  arrived  in  cargo 
lots.  He  had  several  vessels  which  were  unloading  in 
New  York  harbor,  and  he  wished  me  to  see  a  cargo 
which  was  unloading  in  Brooklyn.  He  did  not  seem 
to  be  very- well  posted  as  to  localities  in  that  city,  nor 
as  to  car  lines.  We  boarded  a  car  which  he  thought 
would  take  us  to  the  vessel,  but  it  did  not.  He  con 
sidered,  however,  that  by  walking  cross-lots  we  would 
soon  reach  the  vessel.  It  was  a  very  hot,  clear  day  and 
the  sun's  rays  were  scorching.  The  distance  proved  to 
be  more  than  a  mile.  I  have  never  had  a  sunstroke, 
but  think  I  came  pretty  near  it  then. 


148  REMINISCENCES 

The  next  day  I  went  up  to  New  Haven,  Conn., 
where  I  had  a  cargo  of  timber  and  lumber  unloading, 
which  I  had  sold  to  the  New  Haven  Sawmill  Co.  When 
I  arrived  at  New  Haven  I  went  directly  to  the  vessel, 
but  the  heat  of  the  day  before  I  think  had  stimulated 
the  malaria  in  me  and  I  began  to  feel  sick.  I  asked 
Mr.  Booth,  the  agent  of  the  buyers,  to  take  me  to  a  good 
hotel,  which  he  did.  When  I  reached  the  hotel  I  went 
to  bed  and  asked  the  landlord  to  send  for  a  good  doctor. 
The  physician  came  and  looked  me  over.  I  do  not 
know  what  his  diagnosis  was,  but  he  put  some  "No.  1" 
in  a  glass  of  water  and  some  "No.  2"  into  another  glass 
of  water  and  told  me  to  take  a  teaspoonful  of  "No.  1" 
and  in  half  an  hour  a  teaspoonful  of  "No.  2,"  repeating 
till  I  got  well,  or  died.  The  girl  who  waited  on  my 
room  told  the  housekeeper  that  she  believed  the  man  in 
No.  22  was  crazy ;  "Just  think,  this  hot  day  he  has  kept 
calling  for  blankets  till  I  have  put  six  on  his  bed."  Dur 
ing  my  life  I  have  suffered  terribly  with  headaches,  first 
and  last,  but  I  never  had  such  a  painful  headache  as  I 
had  that  night.  My  reason  appeared  to  be  all  right, 
but  the  pain  was  intense.  I  feared  that  before  morning 
I  would  be  out  of  my  head  if  the  pain  continued.  About 
twelve  o'clock  I  touched  the  bell  button  for  the  night 
clerk  to  come  to  my  room  and  in  vigorous  language  I 
told  him  my  condition.  I  directed  him  to  bring  me 
some  crushed  ice,  put  it  in  a  washbowl,  pour  in  some 
water,  set  it  at  the  head  of  my  bed  and  furnish  me  a 
towel.  I  then  wet  it  in  the  ice  water  and  put  it  on  my 
head.  When  the  towel  would  get  warm  I  would  take  it 
off  my  head  and  put  it  in  the  ice  water ;  then  wring  it 
out  and  put  it  back.  By  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
the  headache  had  ceased,  and  later  I  went  to  sleep. 


A    BEAUTIFUL    FOREST  149 

About  9  o'clock  the  doctor  came  to  see  me  again.  I  told 
him  that  I  did  not  want  any  more  "No.  1  and  No.  2," 
but  that  if  he  would  give  me  something  that  would  not 
make  my  head  ache  I  should  be  glad.  He  remarked: 
"You  appear  to  know  better  what  to  do  than  I.  I  rec 
kon  you  better  doctor  yourself."  I  told  him  that  I 
thought  so  too,  and  bade  him  good  day.  I  then  called 
the  landlord  in  and  asked  if  he  could  recommend  a 
good  allopathic  physician.  He  was  careful  to  express 
no  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  any  physician,  but  fin 
ally  mentioned  a  Dr.  Hubbard.  I  said:  uSend  for  him; 
I  never  knew  a  Hubbard  who  was  a  fool."  He  came 
and  put  me  under  a  treatment  of  calomel  and  quinine. 
In  ten  or  twelve  days  I  thought  I  was  all  right  and 
insisted  upon  going  into  the  dining  room  to  get  my 
meals.  This  led  to  a  relapse  and  I  was  quite  ill  again. 
After  about  two  weeks  more  I  felt  that  I  had  recovered 
and  I  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  go  to  my  wife 
in  Chicago;  I  was  very  impatient  at  the  confinement 
and  delay.  Dr.  Hubbard  told  me  that  if  I  took  the 
journey  then  to  Chicago  it  would  kill  me,  but  I  paid 
my  bills;  settled  with  Mr.  Booth  as  he  dictated  for  the 
cargo  of  lumber,  ordered  a  carriage  and  went  to  the 
railroad  station.  As  I  sat  in  the  depot  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  the  train  for  New  York,  I  felt  very  ill  and 
concluded  that  I  would  have  to  return  to  the  hotel.  I 
started  to  get  a  carriage  to  take  me  there,  none  was  in 
sight,  but  the  train  rolled  into  the  station  and  I  got 
aboard.  I  kept  getting  stronger  all  the  way  to  New 
York  City,  and  then  for  some  reason  I  crossed  to  Jersey 
City  and  took  the  Pennsylvania  train  for  Chicago.  I 
met  my  wife  in  the  latter  place,  and  accompanied  her 
two  or  three  days  in  the  hot  sun  on  a  shopping  tour, 


150  EEMINISCENCES 

then  we  went  to  Oshkosh.  My  wife  was  an  invalid  and 
a  local  physician  was  treating  her;  he  also  prescribed 
for  me,  as  I  had  not  yet  recovered  from  my  late  illness. 
About  a  week  later  I  went  to  Ripon  in  order  to  place 
my  son  in  school.  While  at  the  house  of  the  president 
of  the  college,  waiting  for  the  return  train,  I  was  taken 
quite  sick  again,  but  I  arose,  in  spite  of  the  pain,  and 
took  the  train  to  Oshkosh.  My  partner,  Mr.  Eben 
Hubbard,  met  me  at  the  station  and  took  me  to  the 
house  of  my  wife's  father.  The  next  day  I  was  taken 
with  a  terrible  fit  of  vomiting.  My  mother-in-law  came 
to  me  and  said:  "Don't  you  think  we  had  better  send 
for  Dr.  Osborne  ?"  This  doctor  had  been  our  physician 
before  we  went  south.  I  replied  that  I  would  like  to 
have  him.  He  was  sent  for  and  came  in  the  morning; 
talked  with  me  awhile  and  went  out  of  the  room.  In  a 
short  time  Mrs.  Hubbard  came  to  me  and  said:  "Mr. 
Skinner,  may  I  tell  you  what  Dr.  Osborne  told  me?" 
I  replied,  "Certainly."  "He  says  you  are  all  used  up, 
that  he  can't  do  much  for  you ;  whether  you  live  or  not 
will  depend  upon  good  nursing ;  that  in  any  event  you 
Will  not  get  out  in  six  weeks."  I  had  never  suffered 
much  sickness.  I  took  no  stock  in  the  doctor's  prognos 
tications  in  my  case,  but  following  events  proved  him 
correct.  Mrs.  Hubbard  was  one  of  the  dearest  old 
ladies  I  ever  knew,  as  well  as  the  best  friend  I  ever 
had.  She  nursed  me  faithfully,  but  it  was  six  weeks 
before  I  became  convalescent.  I  fully  believe  she  saved 
my  life.  Dr.  Osborne  remarked  that  it  would  be  some 
time  before  I  would  have  another  fever,  and  I  have  had 
none,  although  I  have  lived  twenty-seven  years  in  Flor 
ida.  The  experience  of  that  malarial  fever  has  demon 
strated  to  me  that  a  person,  convalescing  from  it,  should 


A   BEAUTIFUL    FOREST  151 

be  very  careful  in  resuming  the  customary  avocations 
of  life,  and  I  have  used  that  knowledge  much  to  the 
advantage  of  my  family  and  the  health  of  my  employees. 
As  soon  as  I  had  fully  recovered  I  returned  to  Escam- 
bia. 

My  experience  in  1878  in  buying  logs  led  me  to  buy 
the  log  landings  along  the  shores  of  the  bay  and  river, 
where  logs  could  be  handled  by  teams  and  rolled  into 
the  water ;  then  these  landings  could  not  be  used  without 
my  consent  while  I  owned  them.  Up  to  this  time  and 
for  several  years  later,  timber  lands  in  Florida  were 
valued  at  only  fifty  cents  per  acre,  which  price,  of 
course,  was  ridiculously  low.  I  was  aware  of  that  fact, 
but  I  think  it  was  the  general  impression  of  the  natives 
that  these  lands  never  would  be  worth  more.  They 
could  secure  government  land  by  locating  it  under  the 
United  States  Homstead  law,  but  most  of  them  failed 
to  do  so,  because  it  cost  fifteen  or  twenty  dollars  to  lo 
cate  the  claim. 

Most  of  the  natives  possessed  a  migratory  disposition. 
They  would  see  locations  often  which  they  thought  su 
perior  to  the  one  they  occupied.  It  did  not  involve  much 
labor  to  cut  poles,  notch  them  and  build  a  log  house ; 
they  could  cut  down  a  cypress,  juniper  or  pine  tree  for 
shingles.  Most  of  them  had  a  little  ox-cart  or  one- 
horse,  four-wheeled  wagon  in  which  to  move  their  wives, 
children  and  household  goods,,  and  they  could  drive 
their  pigs  and  cattle  to  the  new  home.  The  man  would 
girdle  a  few  acres  of  trees  and  start  a  new  plantation, 
perhaps  a  little  richer  and  better  than  the  former  worn- 
out  garden  spot  At  one  time  I  think  as  many  as  a 
hundred  of  these  "squatters"  were  living  on  my  land. 

In  the  fall  of  1880  my  former  partner,  E.  H.  Hub- 


152  REMINISCENCES 

bard,  returned  to  Escambia  and  spent  the  winter  with 
me.  His  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  was  born  at  my  house. 
I  had  an  option  on  some  thirty-five  thousand  acres  of 
pine  land  at  seventy  cents  per  acre.  This  land  lay  on, 
and  tributary  to  the  Canuch  River,  and  was  covered 
with  very  large  pine  trees.  Mr.  Hubbard  had  two 
brothers  in  New  Mexico  raising  sheep,  and  about  this 
time  they  sold  out ;  their  names  were  John  Q.  and  How 
ard  Hubbard.  The  mill  property  at  Escambia  still  be 
longed  to  my  father-in-law  and  I  urged  them  very 
strongly  to  look  at  this  pine  land  and  buy  it.  If  they 
preferred  I  would  let  them  have  the  mill  at  Escambia 
and  I  would  go  somewhere  else,  but  the  three  brothers 
decided  to  go  to  Mobile  and  embark  in  the  lumber  busi 
ness  there.  Later  this  land  was  sold  to  a  syndicate  of 
Wisconsin  men — a  Mr.  Wharton  and  others.  After 
wards  Mr.  Wharton  offered  the  land  to  me  at  $2  per 
acre,  and  he  finally  sold  it  to  a  Mr.  Peters,  who  made 
a  fortune  out  of  it,  and  then  sold  it  to  Mr.  F.  C.  Brent 
and  others,  who  have  also  made  a  great  deal  of  money 
from  it. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

POLITICAL   VENTUBES. 

In  1882  an  incident  occurred  at  the  City  Hotel  in 
Pensacola  which  I  think  had  considerable  to  do  with 
my  entering  into  politics.  At  that  time  my  wife  was  in 
Newton,  Mass.,  boarding,  and  my  son  was  attending 
Yale  college.  I  therefore  found  it  rather  lonesome  at 
Escambia,  and  would  frequently  come  into  Pensacola 
on  Saturday  nights  and  stay  over  Sunday.  One  Satur 
day  night  I  was  standing  by  the  counter  in  the  office  of 
the  City  Hotel.  It  was  a  little  after  the  time  the  train 
arrived  from  the  north,  and  there  was  an  unusual  num 
ber  of  people  in  the  office  at  the  time.  I  heard  a  tall, 
six-footer  who  was  standing  by  me  inquire  of  the  clerk 
if  Mr.  Skinner  was  in  town.  The  clerk  replied :  "That 
is  Mr.  Skinner  standing  by  you."  It  occurred  to  me 
that  very  likely  the  man  wished  to  buy  a  cargo  of  lum 
ber.  He  turned  to  me  and  said:  "Mr.  Skinner,  my 
name  is  Mr.  Knowles."  I  rejoined:  "Mr.  Knowles,  I 
am  glad  to  meet  you."  He  then  said:  "Did  you  send 
such-and-such  a  message  to  me  at  the  depot?"  I  re 
plied,  "I  sent  such  a  message  to  a  man  there  who  re 
fused  to  deliver  my  freight  to  my  drayman."  He  said, 
"I  am  that  person,  and  I  consider  your  message  a  direct 
insult."  I  remarked,  "A  man  who  does  not  wish  to  be 
insulted  should  not  offer  insults,"  and  turned  around, 
as  much  as  to  say  that  that  ended  the  conversation. 
Suddenly  I  felt  my  hat  knocked  off  my  head ;  then  in  a 

153 


154:  REMINISCENCES 

flash  I  struck  the  stranger  in  the  face.  Probably  the 
blow  dazed  him  a  little.  I  watched  him  for  a  few  min 
utes  to  see  what  he  would  do  next.  I  stood  there  with 
my  thumbs  in  the  arm-holes  of  my  vest,  awaiting  the 
next  act  on  the  programme.  My  antagonist  worked 
himself  through  the  crowd  to  the  farther  corner  of  the 
room,  leaving  me  in  the  center,  between  him  and  the 
door,  when  he  drew  a  revolver  from  his  pocket,  and 
pointing  the  weapon  at  me,  said:  "Get  down  on  your 
knees  and  apologize  to  me,  or  I  will  shoot  you."  I  fully 
believed  he  would.  I  was  taken  entirely  by  surprise. 
The  crowd  sought  safety  through  the  doors  of  the  office. 
I  think  what  I  did  was  without  forethought.  Walking 
directly  towards  him  I  grabbed  the  pistol,  at  the  same 
time  Byron  Dunwiddy  seized  him  and  took  his  pistol 
away,  then  letting  him  go.  The  man  hurried  out  of 
sight  as  fast  as  possible.  I  was  unarmed  and  up  to  this 
time  was  not  angry  and  I  did  not  know  where  Knowles 
had  gone.  I  tried  to  borrow  a  revolver,  but  it  appeared 
all  were  without,  or  would  not  lend  one  to  me,  and  the 
stores  which  sold  firearms  were  all  closed.  By  this  time 
I  became  very  angry ;  probably  if  I  had  secured  a  wea 
pon  and  met  Knowles  I  would  have  done  something  for 
which  I  ever  afterwards  would  have  been  sorry.  I  re 
mained  in  town  Sunday  and  Monday  looking  for 
Knowles,  but  saw  nothing  of  that  gentleman.  When  I 
had  last  seen  him  the  blood  was  running  down  his  face. 
I  have  since  heard  that  he  kept  out  of  sight  till  his  face 
healed. 

Monday  a  stranger  met  me  in  the  office  of  the  hotel 
and  said :  "Mr.  Skinner,  I  saw  that  attack  on  you  Satur 
day  night,  and  I  think  you  are  the  bravest  man  I  ever 
saw."  I  replied,  "I  was  pretty  badly  scared,  but  I  did 


POLITICAL    VENTUBES  155 

not  know  what  else  to  do."  Mr.  S.  S.  Harvey  met  me 
that  day  and  said :  "Nobody  will  ever  attack  you  in  this 
country  again."  It  is  my  own  opinion  that  when  a  man 
is  in  danger  of  being  killed  by  another  man  he  can't 
tell  what  his  legs  will  do  with  him,  whether  they  will 
carry  him  away  from  the  danger,  or  carry  him  towards 
it.  I  learned  later  that  Mr.  Knowles,  knowing  my  habit 
of  coming  into  town  Saturday  nights,  had  invited  his 

acquaintances  to  the  hotel  to  see  him  "make  the  d d 

yankee  run."  The  man  who  told  me  of  his  being  in 
vited  to  see  the  show,  said  that  he  told  Knowles  he 
might  be  making  a  mistake,  saying,  "You  can't  tell 
sometimes  what  those  yankees  will  do  when  you  get 
them  in  a  tight  place." 

Soon  after  this  I  was  approached  by  some  of  the  lead 
ing  republicans  of  Pensacola  and  asked  to  run  for  con 
gress.  I  told  them  I  did  not  think  there  was  any  chance 
to  elect  a  republican,  but  they  finally  convinced  me  that 
there  was  a  good  one.  It  seems  there  was  a  majority 
of  whites  and  negroes  at  that  time  in  the  First  Congres 
sional  District  of  Florida  who  voted  the  republican 
ticket.  We  had  heard  that  there  was  a  move  in  what 
was  known  as  the  "black  belt"  of  Florida  to  run  one 
Daniel  McKinnon  as  an  independent  The  democratic 
candidate  was  a  Mr.  Davidson,  who  was  known  in  Flor 
ida  as  "the  funeral  member"  of  congress.  He  was  a 
pleasant  gentleman  without  much  force  of  character, 
who  was  invariably  appointed  by  the  speaker  of  the 
house,  as  one  of  the  committee  to  escort  the  body  of  a 
deceased  member  of  congress  to  his  former  home. 

The  first  congressional  district  of  Florida  comprised 
all  the  counties  bordering  on  the  gulf  from  Perdido 
River  on  the  west  to  Key  West  on  the  south,  together 


156  REMINISCENCES 

with  some  of  the  inland  counties.  It  was  over  six  hun 
dred  miles  long.  A  republican  convention  was  to  be 
held  at  Quincy,  Fla.,  August  24th  to  nominate  a  can 
didate.  The  county  convention  to  elect  delegates  to  the 
congressional  convention  was  held  some  two  weeks  pre 
vious  to  that  date.  About  the  12th  or  13th  of  that 
month  I  was  in  Pensacola  to  spend  Sunday,  as  usual, 
when  Dr.  White,  the  quarantine  physician,  said  to  me : 
"After  dinner  we  are  going  up  to  examine  that  case  in 
the  hospital  on  East  Hill,  to  find  out  whether  the  party 
has  yellow  fever,  or  not."  I  said :  "Let  me  know  when 
you  get  back."  About  three  o'clock  I  met  the  doctor 
in  the  office  of  the  City  Hotel  and  asked  him:  "What 
did  you  decide  about  that  case?"  He  replied:  "It  is 
yellow  fever ;  we  are  going  to  put  up  the  yellow  flag  for 
Pensacola  tomorrow."  At  that  date  yellow  fever  was 
supposed  to  be  infectious.  I  said  to  Dr.  White :  "Have 
you  changed  your  clothes  since  you  went  there?"  He 
answered:  "No;  no  one  pays  me  to  do  that."  I  said 
"Good  day,"  and  went  home  to  Escambia.  At  that  time 
there  was  no  railroad  from  Pensacola  to  Tallahassee, 
though  the  Pensacola  &  Atlantic  R.  R.  was  building. 
The  usual  route  was  to  Montgomery,  then  the  Georgia 
Central  to  Columbus,  Ga.,  and  from  there  via  Way  cross 
and  Jacksonville.  When  our  delegation  arrived  at 
Montgomery  the  authorities  notified  us  that  Montgomery 
had  quarantined  against  Pensacola  and  they  would  not 
permit  our  delegation  to  get  off  the  cars  there.  They  put 
us  in  a  passenger  car  and  ran  us  through  the  town  to  a 
place  where  they  kept  us,  till  the  train  for  Atlanta 
should  arrive.  We  left  that  train  at  Eufala,  and  went 
from  there  to  Macon,  and  from  Macon  to  Jacksonville. 
The  cars  were  very  hot  and  dusty.  We  were  very  tired 


POLITICAL    VENTURES  157 

when  we  reached  the  city  and  went  to  the  hotel,  con 
gratulating  ourselves  that  we  had  beaten  the  yellow 
fever  scare.  I  had  been  in  my  room  about  long  enough 
to  take  a  bath  when  I  heard  a  knock  at  the  door.  I 
opened  it  and  a  gentleman  stood  there  who  announced 
himself  as  the  quarantine  doctor  of  Jacksonville.  He 
asked  me  if  I  did  not  know  that  Jacksonville  had  quar 
antined  against  Pensacola.  I  replied  that  I  did  not 
live  in  that  city;  he  asked  me  why  I  registered  from 
there  and  I  rejoined  that  I  lived  near  that  place,  in  a 
small  village  not  much  known  abroad,  and  when  far 
from  home  I  usually  registered  as  from  Pensacola. 
He  asked,  "Where  is  Col.  Tarble  ?  He  is  mayor  of  that 
city,  is  he  not?"  I  said,  "Yes,"  and  showed  him  the 
colonel's  room.  The  latter  gentleman  tried  to  argue 
with  him.  He  said  there  was  no  fever  in  Pensacola, 
that  but  one  case  had  been  developed.  After  combating 
the  officiaPs  arguments  for  a  considerable  time  we  con 
vinced  him  that  we  were  not  very  dangerous.  He 
wanted  to  know  where  we  were  going,  to  which  we  re- 
plied  that  we  were  going  to  Quincy  on  the  4  p.  m.  train 
that  afternoon.  He  said,  "I  think  you  are  all  right,  but 
I  will  order  you  to  leave  on  the  four  o'clock  train  this 
afternoon." 

This  quarantine  business  along  the  gulf  coast  against 
yellow  fever  is  the  most  foolish,  senseless  and  tyrannical 
exercise  of  one-man  power  that  it  has  ever  been  my  per 
sonal  experience  to  suffer.  It  is  a  most  senseless  ex 
hibition  of  fear,  a  most  tyrannical  interference  with  the 
liberty  of  the  individual,  causing  him  great  trouble, 
annoyance  and  expense.  We  took  the  train  that  even 
ing  for  Quincy.  Fearing  our  party  might  have  diffi 
culty  in  finding  hotel  accommodations  at  Quincy,  CoL 


158  REMINISCENCES 

Tarble  and  I  stopped  off  and  stayed  over  night  at  Talla 
hassee.  The  next  morning  the  colonel  and  I  went  to 
that  place.  It  was  considered  politic  for  our  party  not 
to  announce  my  candidacy  for  the  nomination,  and  I 
had  little  or  nothing  to  do  with  arranging  for  the  con 
vention  the  next  day,  but  Col.  Tarble  and  the  rest  of 
the  delegation  were  kept  very  busy.  They  satisfied 
themselves  that  we  could  control  the  convention. 

I  had  never  witnessed  a  political  convention  com 
posed  largely  of  negroes,  but  had  presumed  they  would 
behave  very  much  like  white  folks  under  similar  cir 
cumstances.  When  the  convention  organized  the  next 
day  the  negroes  displayed  racial  characteristics,  which 
I  had  not  suspected  them  to  possess.  It  appeared  that 
nearly  every  negro  in  the  convention  wished  to  speak  at 
the  same  time.  Some  of  them  were  quite  good  orators, 
using  fair  arguments  and  good  logic.  Most  of  the  talk 
ing  was  done  by  those  who  supported  the  independent 
candidate,  McKinnon.  This  man  had  served  a  number 
of  terms  in  the  Florida  legislature,  was  a  rabid  democrat, 
and  had  caused  to  be  placed  on  the  statute  book  of  the 
state  several  laws  showing  unkindly  feelings  towards 
the  negroes.  I  thought  for  a  time  they  would  all  be 
mixed  up  in  a  promiscuous  fight  I  was  not  aware  at 
that  time  that  the  negro  did  so  much  talking  before 
fighting.  The  greater  part  of  the  negroes  in  this  con 
vention  were  preachers,  who  made  politics  and  religion 
their  principal  occupation;  one  of  them  would  talk 
himself  tired  and  then  another  would  take  the  platform 
and  howl  with  all  the  eloquence  he  could  command, 
then  sit  down  exhausted,  giving  the  floor  to  a  third  ora 
tor,  and  so  on  until  their  energy  had  been  expended. 

George  Washington  Witherspoon  was  a  fine  orator,  a 


POLITICAL,    VENTURES  159 

preacher  and  the  last  congressional  candidate  on  the  re 
publican  ticket  in  the  district.  He  had  consumed  much 
of  the  time  of  the  convention  in  explaining  his  conduct 
for  the  last  two  years  and  soliciting  a  renomination, 
but  becoming  convinced  that  he  could  not  succeed,  he 
came  to  Col.  Tarble  and  wished  to  know  whom  West 
Florida  was  supporting,  promising  that  he  would  give 
the  colonel  what  influence  he  had  and  support  his  can 
didate.  When  informed,  he  asked  to  be  introduced  to 
me,  and  then  said  that  he  had  hoped  to  be  nominated 
himself,  but  was  convinced  that  it  was  impossible,  so  if 
I  would  agree  to  it,  he  would  make  a  speech  to  the  con 
vention  nominating  me.  I  gave  my  consent  and  he 
arose  and  spoke  for  nearly  half  an  hour  very  eloquently, 
extolling  my  qualifications  for  the  honor  and  announced 
my  name.  This  was  the  first  intimation  the  McKin- 
nonites  had  as  to  who  was  the  dark  horse.  They  had 
confidence  that  they  could  nominate  their  own  man,  so 
they  consented  to  an  immediate  ballot  and  it  was  taken. 
The  result  showed  that  I  had  two-thirds  of  the  conven 
tion,  and  was  declared  the  nominee.  Then  there  was 
pandemonium  in  the  convention  hall ;  all  the  McKinnon 
delegates  wanted  to  express  their  indignation  and  dis 
appointment;  they  had  evidently  over-estimated  their 
strength.  One  big,  fat  negro  from  Tallahassee  lay 
down  at  full  length  on  the  secretary's  table  and  called 
for  some  one  to  stick  a  knife  in  him.  This  negro  was 
postmaster  at  Tallahassee,  and  was  afterwards  proven 
a  defaulter  to  the  postoffice  department  The  McKin 
non  supporters  openly  made  the  charge  that  I  had 
bought  the  convention.  Col.  Tarble,  John  Eagan  and 
others  returned  to  Tallahassee,  where  we  organized  a 
campaign  committee.  Ex-U.  S.  Senator  Conover,  who 


160  REMINISCENCES 

had  been  a  prominent  republican  politician  in  the  state 
of  Florida,  was  at  the  convention  and  became  my  active 
supporter,  as  did  numerous  other  politicians. 

I  had  arranged  to  go  north  in  a  few  weeks  to  visit 
my  wife  and  son,  which  I  did  as  soon  as  the  preliminary 
arrangements  for  the  campaign  were  made.  I  was  ad 
vised  to  get  a  good  rousing  speaker  from  the  north  to 
help  me  stump  the  district.  I  was  also  advised  to  leave 
a  couple  of  thousand  dollars  with  the  treasurer  of  the 
congressional  committee,  to  be  used  in  lubricating  the 
republican  congressional  machinery. 

At  the  Quincy  convention  the  McKinnon  negro  dele 
gates  had  appeared  to  have  an  enmity  against  Mr.  Cono- 
ver.  When  he  attempted  to  speak  they  made  an  attack 
on  him  and  drove  him  from  the  hall.  The  day  before 
the  convention  Col.  Tarble  was  talking  with  McKinnon. 
The  colonel  was  a  conspicuous-looking  man  who  would 
be  noticed  in  any  crowd.  Half  a  dozen  negroes  came 
up  to  him  and  asked  if  he  was  collector  of  the  Port  of 
Pensacola  and  he  replied  that  he  was.  They  said  that 
they  were  delegates  to  the  convention  and  had  not  had 
anything  to  eat  that  day.  The  colonel  said :  "You  prob 
ably  are  McKinnon  delegates;  he  will  give  you  money 
to  get  something  to  eat."  McKinnon  told  them  that  he 
had  no  money  to  give  away  and  that  he  would  not  give 
them  anything.  Tarble  told  them  to  wait  a  minute 
while  he  stepped  into  a  grocery  and  got  a  twenty  dollar 
gold  piece  changed  into  silver  dollars.  When  he  re 
turned  he  threw  each  of  them  a  dollar  and  told  them 
to  go  and  get  something  to  eat"  He  added  that  he  did 
not  give  them  the  money  to  buy  their  votes,  but  that  he 
did  not  like  to  see  men  go  hungry ;  that  when  they  got 
hungry  again  to  come  and  see  him.  He  knew  they 


POLITICAL,    VENTURES  161 

would  be  hungry  before  the  opening  of  the  convention 
the  next  day,  and  sure  enough  they  presented  themselves 
for  a  hand-out  the  next  morning,  and  informed  the 
colonel  that  they  would  vote  as  he  did ;  that  they  liked 
his  kind  of  politics. 

John  Eagan  was  elected  chairman  of  the  convention. 
He  was  a  good  presiding  officer  and  understood  his 
business;  he  was  also  from  Pensacola  and  was  one  of 
my  supporters.  At  one  time  the  convention  did  not 
like  his  rulings  and  half  a  dozen  negroes  rose  to  ex 
postulate.  A  one-armed  negro  from  Tallahassee  picked 
up  a  heavy  chair  in  his  right  hand  and  made  as  though 
he  would  knock  Eagan  over  the  head  with  it.  Col.  Tar- 
ble  jumped  up  and  swung  a  big,  heavy  cane  which  he 
always  carried,  shouting  "sit  down."  The  negroes  sat 
down  as  though  they  had  been  shot. 

When  Col.  Tarble  with  his  delegates  from  Pensacola 
arrived  at  Quincy  from  Jacksonville,  ex-governor 
Stearns,  who  lived  in  Quincy,  caused  a  meeting  of  the 
board  of  health  to  be  called,  to  have  those  delegates  ex 
cluded  from  the  village.  Col.  Tarble  attended  the  meet 
ing  of  the  board  of  health  and  told  the  gentlemen  that 
there  was  only  one  case  of  sickness  in  Pensacola  when 
they  left,  and  that  none  of  the  delegates  with  him  had 
been  exposed  to  yellow  fever.  Turning  to  Stearns,  he 
said :  "You  can  drive  us  out  of  town  into  the  woods  if 
you  want  to,  but  I  shall  take  the  convention  to  the 
woods  with  me  if  I  go  there."  He  then  said :  "Gentle 
men,  you  know  what  the  governor  of  North  Carolina 
said  to  the  governor  of  South  Carolina!"  The  mem 
bers  of  the  board  admitted  that  they  did  not  know* 
"Well,  he  said,  'Gentlemen,  it  is  time  to  go  and  take  a 


162  REMINISCENCES 

drink/ "  The  colonel  furnished  several  drinks,  and 
heard  nothing  further  about  leaving  town. 

After  getting  all  the  campaign  machinery  in  order  I 
went  directly  to  Portland,  Me.,  where  my  wife  and  son 
had  preceded  me.  While  in  Portland  I  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  Mr.  Neal  Dow,  son  of  his  father,  the 
great  temperance  reformer  in  Maine  before  the  civil 
war — he  was  afterward  appointed  a  general  in  the  fed 
eral  army,  and  was  at  one  time  in  command  of  federal 
forces  at  Pensacola.  The  son  was  an  expert  in  politics 
and  told  me  how  they  did  things  in  Maine.  He  gave 
me  a  good  deal  of  information  in  regard  to  running  a 
campaign.  In  answer  to  my  inquiry  he  recommended 
to  me,  an  orator  who  would  fill  my  requirements,  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Loony.  This  gentleman 
was  an  Irish  Catholic,  and  from  the  accounts  given  me 
must  have  "kissed  the  blarney  stone"  before  leaving  the 
emerald  isle.  I  went  to  see  Loony  and  found  him  a 
pleasant  fellow.  He  told  me  he  was  twenty-eight  years 
old,  that  he  had  never  uttered  an  oath,  nor  used  tobacco, 
nor  tasted  liquor,  nor  ever  gambled.  I  said  to  him, 
"Mr.  Loony,  you  are  certainly  a  very  remarkable  young 
man,  but  let  me  tell  you  that  during  the  last  ten  years 
you  have  lost  a  heap  of  fun." 

I  wrote  to  Senator  Sawyer  of  Wisconsin,  informing 
him  that  I  was  the  republican  candidate  for  congress 
in  my  district,  and  asking  him  to  send  me  letters  of 
introduction  to  the  secretary  of  the  congressional  com 
mittee  and  such  other  persons  in  Washington  as  in  his 
opinion  would  assist  me,  which  he  kindly  did.  He 
sent  me  letters  of  introduction  to  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury  and  the  secretary  of  the  post  office  department ; 
also  to  the  secretary  of  the  congressional  committee. 


POLITICAL    VENTURES  163 

It  is  customary  every  two  years  when  a  new  congress 
is  elected  for  the  republican  members  of  the  expiring 
congress  to  appoint  a  committee  to  help  the  election 
of  republican  candidates  in  close  districts.  George  C. 
Grorham  was  secretary  of  this  committee,  and  its  exec 
utive  officer.  Senator  Sawyer's  letters  were  very  cor 
dial  and  endorsed  me  in  unstinted  terms. 

On  my  return  to  Tallahassee  I  stopped  in  Washing 
ton  to  see  parties  to  whom  I  had  letters  of  introduction. 
Calling  on  Mr.  Gorham  I  gave  him  my  name.  At  first 
I  did  not  present  my  letter.  He  said  that  he  had  heard 
about  me,  and  that  some  charges  had  been  made  against 
me.  I  talked  a  little  while  to  him  then  presented  Sena 
tor  Sawyer's  letter.  After  reading  this  he  said:  "Mr. 
Skinner,  you  are  all  right ;  this  letter  of  introduction  is 
as  good  as  if  it  had  come  from  Gen.  Grant."  He  then 
pulled  open  a  drawer  in  his  desk  and  took  from  it  a  long 
letter  written  by  a  negro  named  Fortune,  who  lived  in 
New  York  City  and  imagined  himself  a  great  leader 
of  his  race.  The  letter  was  full  of  ridiculous  state 
ments,  proving  that  neither  the  writer  nor  his  informer 
knew  anything  about  me.  In  fact  up  to  that  time  I 
had  no  particular  political  record,  not  having  meddled 
in  the  politics  of  Florida  at  all,  but  had  devoted  myself 
since  coming  to  the  state  exclusively  to  the  lumber  busi 
ness.  I  had  tried  to  build  up  a  good  trade  and  to  make 
some  money. 

I  had  arranged  with  Mr.  Loony  that  if  I  should  want 
him  to  come  and  stump  the  state  with  me,  I  was  to 
write  him  and  he  would  come.  When  I  returned  to 
Tallahassee  I  did  not  find  things  in  a  satisfactory  con 
dition.  I  could  see  but  little  hope  for  my  election,  with 
such  division.  We  could  succeed  only  with  a  united 


164  REMINISCENCES 

party.  I  found  McKinnon  running  as  an  independent 
candidate,  supported  by  Stearns  and  his  influence.  It 
had  become  a  belief,  with  many  of  the  republicans  of 
the  state,  that  they  could  be  more  successful  in  electing 
a  candidate  who  was  an  out-and-out  democrat  and  who 
would  run  as  an  independent.  This  scheme  was  tried 
several  times,  both  in  state  and  congressional  campaigns, 
but  in  every  instance  proved  a  complete  failure.  Stearns 
had  been  captain  in  the  federal  army,  was  left  in  Flor 
ida  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  then  engaged  in  "carpet 
bag77  politics.  He  was  elected  lieutenant  governor  of 
the  state  on  the  republican  ticket;  the  governor  died 
and  he  succeeded  to  that  position.  He  was  then  nom 
inated  to  succeed  himself,  the  year  that  Tilden  and 
Hayes  ran  for  the  presidency.  In  the  scuffle  to  secure 
sufficient  electoral  votes  to  give  Hayes  a  majority  over 
Tilden  in  the  electoral  college,  the  state  government  was 
given  to  the  democrats  and  the  electoral  votes  to  the 
republicans.  Then  Stearns  joined  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Martin  and  settled  down  in  a  general  store  in  Quin- 
cy.  They  controlled  every  negro  vote  in  G-adsden  coun 
ty,  and  had  great  influence  with  the  negroes  in  Leon, 
Jefferson  and  Jackson  counties.  I  thought  I  would  go 
and  interview  Stearns,  and  see  what  was  the  trouble 
with  him.  I  soon  found  out.  He  told  me  if  I  would 
promise  him  a  consulship  he  would  support  me  with  all 
his  influence.  I  replied  that  I  had  no  consulship  to 
give  anyone;  that  I  could  not  promise  him  something 
that  I  did  not  have  the  right  to  give ;  that  I  was  not  a 
politician,  nor  did  I  understand  how  to  play  the  game 
of  politics ;  that  I  should  not  place  myself  under  obliga 
tions  to  anyone,  which  would  not  leave  me  free  to  act 


POLITICAL    VENTURES  165 

rightly.  We  failed  to  come  to  an  understanding.  I  had 
no  idea  how  many  votes  he  controlled. 

Yellow  fever  had  become  very  severe  in  Pensacola, 
and  this  fact  hampered  me  greatly  in  canvassing  the 
District.  It  looked  as  though  the  coming  congress  would 
be  republican  without  doubt.  The  democrats  in  certain 
sections  would  resort  to  their  old  tactics  of  intimidation, 
stuffing  ballot  boxes  and  cheating  in  the  count  The 
probabilities  were  that  the  contest  between  Davidson 
and  myself  would  be  close,  that  the  certificate  of  elec 
tion  might  be  given  to  him,  and  that  I  might  have  to 
contest  the  seat  in  the  house;  that  a  republican  con 
gress  would  unseat  him,  giving  it  to  me. 

It  was  never  my  disposition  to  enter  a  contest  and 
give  it  up  without  a  thorough  trial,  so  I  told  the  "boys" 
that,  having  accepted  the  nomination,  I  would  see  the 
thing  through.  It  appeared  that  there  was  no  way  of 
estimating  the  number  of  votes  McKinnon  could  get 
from  the  negroes;  we  all  felt  certain  that  he  would 
get  no  democratic  votes.  I  found  that  the  two  thousand 
dollars  which  I  had  left  with  the  treasurer  of  the  con 
gressional  district  committee  had  disappeared,  and  that 
he  could  give  no  lucid  explanation  of  what  he  had  done 
with  it.  I  concluded  that  thereafter  I  would  disburse 
my  own  cash;  which  I  did.  Of  course  under  the  cir 
cumstances  I  had  no  great  hope  of  success.  We  had 
meetings  in  the  counties  mentioned,  the  audiences  being 
composed  mostly  of  negroes.  In  Leon  county  we  had 
many  political  meetings  after  dark,  in  the  rural  dis 
tricts,  as  most  of  the  negroes  worked  on  the  plantations, 
and  their  masters  objected  to  their  leaving  their  work 
to  attend  political  meetings.  I  had  a  good  chance  now 
to  study  the  negro  in  politics. 


166  BEMINISCENCES 

When  I  came  back  from  Washington,  a  meeting  of 
the  congressional  committee  was  held,  and  I  was  in 
formed  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  use  With- 
erspoon  in  stumping  the  district,  as  he  had  been  charged 
in  the  public  prints  in  Washington  with  getting  two 
hundred  dollars  from  the  negro  postmaster  at  Talla 
hassee,  which  he  claimed  to  have  paid  to  Fred  Douglas 
and  Lynch  of  Mississippi.  When  I  asked  Witherspoon, 
who  was  present,  how  this  was,  he  said  that  the  man 
wanted  to  be  appointed  postmaster;  that  he  had  gone 
to  Douglas  and  Lynch,  who  were  the  foremost  men  of 
their  race  in  Washington,  and  they  told  him  that  they 
must  each  have  one  hundred  dollars  before  they  would 
agree  to  help  him.  He  then  wrote  the  postmaster  ex 
plaining  the  situation  and  that  the  latter  took  two  hun 
dred  dollars  of  the  post  office  funds  and  sent  the  same 
to  him,  which  amount  was  paid  over  to  Douglas  and 
Lynch,  one  hundred  dollars  each.  When  later  it  was 
discovered  that  the  postmaster  was  short  in  his  accounts, 
he  told  the  detective  that  he  had  sent  the  money  to 
Witherspoon.  It  seems  that  Douglas  and  Lynch  had 
published  a  card  in  a  Washington  paper  denying  that 
they  had  ever  received  any  money  from  Witherspoon, 
stating  further  that  they  did  not  know  him.  Wither 
spoon,  turning  to  me,  said:  "Do  you  suppose  that  I 
would  go  to  Washington  and  spend  a  year  and  a  half 
there,  striving  to  get  a  seat  in  congress  to  which  I  had 
been  elected,  but  cheated  out  of  by  the  democrats,  and 
not  make  the  acquaintance  of  Douglas  and  Lynch,  who 
both  lived  there?"  I  replied  that  it  did  not  seem  to 
me  probable.  J.  S.  Curry,  a  treasury  agent  and  an  in 
spector  of  customs,  who  was  in  the  room,  listening  to 
the  conversation,  here  interjected  the  remark:  "The 


POLITICAL    VENTURES  167 

last  time  I  was  in  Washington  I  saw  you  and  Fred 
Douglas  riding  together  in  the  same  carriage."  I  then 
said:  "The  card  of  Douglas  and  Lynch  will  have  no 
effect  in  prejudicing  me  against  you,  their  statements 
are  evidently  false." 

I  found  Mr.  Witherspoon  to  be  an  eloquent  speaker, 
and  very  intelligent  for  a  negro.  He  was  capable  of 
arousing  his  race  to  great  enthusiasm.  He  traveled 
with  me  while  we  were  stumping  the  district  and  we 
usually  spoke  to  the  same  audiences.  I  remember  that 
at  one  time  we  went  on  a  trip  to  Carabelle  and  Apala- 
chicola,  where  we  had  rousing  meetings.  Returning 
on  the  steamer  he  sat  down  to  eat  with  the  white  pas 
sengers,  and  quite  a  scene  was  created  by  the  boat's 
crew  making  him  leave  the  table  and  go  to  the  lower 
deck.  He  was  very  dignified  and  peaceable  about  it, 
and  the  affair  passed  off  without  further  trouble. 

Mr.  McKinnon  held  a  meeting  in  Tallahassee,  but 
there  were  not  many  to  hear  him,  or  much  enthusiasm. 
In  the  western  end  of  the  state — Escambia  county  in 
particular,  Col.  Tarble  attended  to  the  canvass.  He 
stayed  manfully,  however,  to  the  office  he  held,  mayor 
of  Pensacola,  and  U.  S.  collector  of  the  port. 

Yellow  fever  was  the  worst  that  year  in  Pensacola 
that  it  had  ever  been,  or  has  ever  been  since.  The  col 
onel's  son  died  of  it ;  he  had  refused  to  leave  his  father ; 
was  a  promising  young  man  of  about  eighteen  years, 
and  was  mourned  and  regretted  by  the  whole  popula 
tion  of  Pensacola.  The  colonel  managed  the  canvass 
so  well  in  Escambia  county  that  I  received  six  hundred 
majority  there  over  Davidson,  McKinnon  receiving  no 
votes.  In  Gadsden  county,  in  which  Stearns  lived,  I 
received  seven  votes.  McKinnon  received  about  one- 


168  EEMINISCENCES 

third  of  the  negro  vote  in  Leon  and  Jefferson  counties, 
and  one-quarter  of  the  votes  in  Jackson  county;  he  re 
ceived  a  little  over  three  thousand  votes  in  all.  It  was 
the  opinion  of  every  man  with  whom  I  conversed,  that 
McKinnon  received  no  democratic  votes  whatever;  he 
polled  no  votes  except  negro  votes,  which  but  for  his  can 
didacy  would  have  been  cast  for  me.  McKinnon' s  vote 
and  mine  were  a  majority  of  those  cast  The  democrats 
resorted  to  fraud  in  only  a  few  counties. 

Davidson  said  he  had  had  a  hard  task  to  beat  two 
men,  but  with  his  opponents,  votes  were  not  strength, 
because  they  were  so  divided.  About  the  only  satisfac 
tion  that  I  had  out  of  this  canvass  was  the  complimen 
tary  vote  I  received  where  I  was  known.  I  had  then 
lived  in  Escambia  about  eight  years,  and  in  the  precinct 
of  Ferry  Pass  where  I  lived  I  received  nearly  the  whole 
vote ;  some  fifteen  or  eighteen  refugees  from  yellow  fe 
ver  in  Pensacola  illegally  voted  in  the  precinct  against 
me,  by  swearing  in  their  votes. 

I  had  expended  about  five  thousand  dollars  as  costs 
of  that  canvass,  and  there  was  little  satisfaction  in  the 
way  it  had  been  expended.  I  published  a  newspaper 
at  Tallahassee,  but  I  learned  that  most  of  the  copies 
which  circulated  through  the  mails,  were  destroyed  by 
a  couple  of  postal-route  agents.  I  had  the  satisfaction, 
later,  of  having  those  agents  removed.  I  wis  asked  to 
do  many  favors  in  the  post  office  department,  by  getting 
postmasters  and  postal  agents  appointed.  This  annoyed 
me  considerably,  yet  I  was  foolish  enough  to  go  on  the 
bonds  of  several  negro  postmasters. 

I  carried  the  campaign  no  farther  south  than  Cedar 
Keys.  Undoubtedly  if  I  had  gone  through  the  southern 
counties  I  could  have  increased  my  vote  considerably, 


POLITICAL    VENTURES  169 

but  I  realized  that  my  whole  hope  of  election  depended 
upon  pacifying  and  uniting  the  republican  vote  in  the 
black  counties  before  mentioned.  Stearns  was  resolved 
to  control  me  politically  or  defeat  me ;  he  succeeded  in 
doing  the  latter. 


CHAPTEK  XIII. 

M'DAVID  BROTHERS  AS  PARTNERS. 

In  the  summer  of  1882,  I  had  considerable  logging 
done  on  the  Choctawhatchee  River.  I  had  about  ten 
thousand  logs  in  my  boom  at  the  mouth  of  that  river, 
when  a  tidal  wave  occurred  in  the  Choctawhatchee  Bay. 
It  entered  the  river  and  forced  the  current  so  far  that 
it  carried  the  logs  up  several  miles.  When  the  wave 
receded,  it  made  so  strong  a  current  down  the  river 
that  the  logs  piled  up  against  the  boom,  broke  it,  and 
they  went  out  into  the  bay.  I  sent  men  and  a  tug  to 
pick  up  the  logs  and  secure  them;  they  succeeded  in 
getting  about  half  of  them  in  a  bayou  opening  into  the 
river  below  Freeport.  I  employed  another  tug  to  go  to 
Choctawhatchee  to  do  my  towing.  It  was  commanded 
by  a  Captain  Leonard.  The  year  before  I  had  unfor 
tunately  incurred  his  enmity,  and  he  did  much  to  my 
injury.  A  Dr.  McLane  had  chartered  this  boat  to 
transport  the  machinery  for  a  sawmill  from  Pensacola 
to  Point  Washington  at  the  head  of  Choctawhatchee 
Bay.  It  was  an  old  side  wheel  river  steamer.  We 
started  out  some  time  in  the  afternoon,  the  doctor  and 
his  wife  being  aboard  when  I  took  passage.  We  had 
a  most  enjoyable  trip  until  late  in  the  evening,  when 
we  all  went  to  bed.  It  was  after  sunrise  when  I  arose, 
and  I  found  the  boat  aground  in  the  narrows,  every 
one  of  the  crew  being  drunk  and  asleep  except  the  en 
gineer.  I  was  unable  to  arouse  the  cook,  who  was  in  a 

170 


M'DAVID  BROTHERS  AS  PARTNERS  171 

drunken  stupor  in  the  galley.  Along  towards  noon  the 
Captain  awoke  and  went  to  get  another  drink  to  straight 
en  himself  out;  he  found  no  whiskey  left  in  the  two 
gallon  jug.  I  had  poured  it  out.  He  asked  me  if  I 
had  taken  it  and  I  told  him  that  he  and  his  men  drank 
it  all  themselves.  He  said  if  he  knew  that  I  had  taken 
it  he  would  put  me  ashore  on  that  island.  His  "hair 
pulled"  badly  all  the  rest  of  the  day  so  that  the  doctor, 
his  wife  and  I  had  rather  a  lonesome  time.  A  little 
after  noon  the  cook  awoke  and  brought  us  something  to 
eat,  after  which  we  felt  happier.  We  arrived  at  Point 
Washington  that  night  and  the  second  day  the  "Iberia" 
started  back  with  a  tow  of  logs  for  me.  I  went  with 
them  and  the  journey  was  without  incident  until  we  had 
reached  the  wide  part  of  Santa  Rosa  sound.  The  wind 
which  had  been  fresh  all  day,  was  dead  ahead  and  in 
creased  to  a  gale  by  evening.  Our  boat  was  nearly 
powerless  against  it.  The  Captain  put  out  the  big  an 
chor  and  hung  to  it,  working  the  engines  at  the  same 
time  to  keep  from  dragging  it.  The  Captain  was  in 
such  a  rage  at  the  weather,  he  would  go  to  the  bow  of 
the  boat,  where  the  wind  would  blow  the  water  in  his 
face,  shake  his  fist  at  the  gale  and  swear  like  a  pirate, 
cursing  everybody  and  everything.  He  gave  the  most 
picturesque  exhibition  of  profanity  to  which  I  had  ever 
listened.  This  man  was  six  feet  tall,  over  forty  years 
of  age,  with  blue  eyes,  light  hair  and  possessed  of  a 
wiry  frame;  he  had  a  daring  and  reckless  temperament. 
During  the  civil  war,  he  had  been  employed  by  the 
federals  in  Mobile  Bay  as  a  pilot,  and  had  been  cap 
tured  by  the  confederates  just  before  Admiral  Farragut 
entered  the  harbor.  Tried  by  a  court  martial  as  a  spy, 


172  BEMINISCENCES 

he  was  sentenced  to  be  hung  the  next  day,  but  was  re 
captured  by  the  federals  just  in  time  to  save  his  neck. 

The  next  trip  Leonard  made  to  Choctawhatchee  my 
man  at  the  boom  gave  him  another  tow  of  logs  to  bring 
to  my  mill.  Instead  of  delivering  them  as  directed,  he 
delivered  them  to  George  Wright.  This  was  a  sample 
of  the  many  things  Captain  Leonard  did  to  injure  me. 
I  found  such  a  bad  set  of  rascals  at  Choctawhatchee  that 
I  gave  up  logging  in  that  locality,  and  turned  my  atten 
tion  to  Escambia  River. 

That  fall  I  became  acquainted  with  John  McDavid, 
who  with  his  brothers  owned  about  fifteen  thousand 
acres  of  land  in  Santa  Rosa  county.  He  offered  to  sell 
me  their  lands  at  fifty  cents  an  acre.  I  do  not  know 
why  I  did  not  buy  them  but  I  think  it  was  because  I 
disliked  running  in  debt.  I  had  always  been  very  care 
ful  not  to  place  myself  in  a  position  where  some  other 
man  could  make  me  do  what  I  did  not  want  to.  After 
some  negotiations  we  agreed  to  enter  into  a  partnership. 
There  were  six  of  the  McDavids.  We  agreed  to  buy 
Mr.  Hubbard's  interest  in  the  mill.  The  combined  Mc 
Davids  were  to  own  one-half  and  I  the  other  half  inter 
est  in  the  company.  They  were  to  put  in  their  lands, 
and  I  was  to  put  in  what  lands  I  had.  At  that  time 
I  could  have  closed  out  my  business  and  netted  fifty 
thousand  dollars  as  a  result  of  ten  years'  business  and 
labor  in  Florida, 

I  considered  it  necessary  to  go  to  Oshkosh  in  order 
to  see  Mr.  Hubbard  and  make  a  trade  for  the  mill.  I 
made  him  a  proposition  to  pay  him  the  purchase  price 
of  the  property,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  wish  to  sell  it. 
I  told  him  I  would  as  soon  go  somewhere  else  and  build 
another  mill,  but  I  wanted  to  see  him  get  back  the 


M'DAVID  BROTHERS  AS  PABTNEBS  173 

money  which  he  had  put  into  the  property.  After  about 
a  week's  delay  he  informed  me  that  he  would  do  as  I 
wished,  and  he  deeded  the  mill,  with  the  pine  lands  be 
longing  to  it,  to  the  new  firm.  Our  lands  were  located 
mostly  along  the  river,  some  so  far  from  it  as  to  make 
the  hauling  of  the  logs  by  oxen  too  expensive  to  be 
profitable. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  good  deal  of  experiment 
ing  in  Florida  seeking  to  find  a  cheaper  and  better  way 
for  transporting  logs  a  long  distance  to  water.  One 
of  the  means  tried  had  been  a  tramway,  but  the  wooden 
rails  soon  wore  out.  Another  had  been,  to  build  a  pole 
road,  laying  small  trees  on  the  ground,  using  concave 
wheels  that  would  straddle  the  pole,  but  such  roads 
lasted  only  a  short  time. 

I  concluded  I  would  go  to  Michigan  and  see  what  they 
were  doing  there  in  the  way  of  hauling  logs.  I  went  to 
Grand  Rapids  and  there  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
Mr.  Belknap  who  was  engaged  in  manufacturing  sup 
plies  for  the  logging  business.  While  I  was  talking  to 
him  one  time,  a  man  came  in  and  Mr.  B.  introduced 
us.  We  soon  began  discussing  the  subject  in  question. 
I  spoke  of  the  tramway  and  the  pole  road;  also  other 
methods  used  in  our  section,  but  he  replied :  "We  have 
been  through  all  these  experiments  up  here  and  I  tell 
you  there  is  but  one  way  to  haul  logs  economically,  and 
that  is  on  a  railroad."  After  some  further  talk  I  prom 
ised  to  come  up  to  Lake  Cadillac  and  look  at  some  nar 
row-gauge  railroads  in  that  locality,  used  for  hauling 
logs.  I  did  so  and  the  sight  was  convincing.  As  a  re 
sult  I  bought  in  Chicago  six  miles  of  steel  rail  of  S.  D. 
Kimbark,  contracted  to  have  a  locomotive  made  by 
the  Lima  Machine  works,  and  engaged  George  Randall 


174:  REMINISCENCES 

to  survey  the  road  and  superintend  its  construction. 
Randall  I  had  known  in  Geddesburg,  Michigan,  when 
he  was  a  boy,  at  the  time  I  was  working  there  on  a  paper 
mill.  Later  he  came  to  Oshkosh  and  was  engineer  of 
the  Green  Bay  &  Lake  Pepin  R.  R.  He  was  also  en 
gineer  011  the  Fox  River  canal. 

Under  our  articles  of  copartnership  John  McDavid 
was  to  give  his  time  and  service  to  the  company;  later 
he  wished  to  give  his  time  to  the  McMillan  Mill  Com 
pany,  and  suggested  that  I  secure  anyone  I  wished  to 
take  his  place  and  he  would  pay  his  salary.  I  sent  for 
my  brother,  La  Fayette,  who  was  then  living  in  Ne- 
waygo,  Mich.,  and  we  began  the  construction  of  the 
road  at  the  river,  on  the  west  side  of  Bonal  Island, 
which  is  an  island  in  Escambia  River.  That  fall  and 
winter  we  built  five  miles  of  road  in  a  north-easterly  di 
rection.  After  being  on  the  line  three  or  four  months 
Randall  became  homesick  and  despondent,  and  wished 
to  go  home.  We  consented  to  his  doing  so.  My  brother 
had  charge  of  the  business  at  Chumuckla,  this  being 
the  name  I  had  given  to  the  terminus  of  the  road. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

OUR  TRIP  TO  GERMANY. 

In  the  Spring  of  1884  I  started  from  Pensacola  to 
my  home  in  Escambia,  when  stepping  into  my  buggy 
at  the  station,  I  saw  a  tall,  athletic  looking  young  man 
walking  ahead  of  me;  I  took  him  to  be  a  Scotchman, 
more  from  the  color  of  his  hair  than  anything  else. 
Overtaking  him  I  asked  him  where  he  was  going,  and 
he  replied :  "To  Ferry  Pass,  to  learn  how  hewn  timber 
is  inspected."  I  informed  him  that  he  would  find  no 
place  there  to  remain  overnight  and  invited  him  to  stop 
at  my  house.  I  also  said  that  I  had  several  rafts  of 
hewn  timber  being  inspected  at  Ferry  Pass,  that  I  was 
going  there  in  the  morning  with  my  tug,  and  that  I 
would  take  him  along  and  drop  him  on  the  rafts  as  I 
went  by,  on  the  way  to  my  log  booms.  He  accepted 
my  invitation,  and  during  the  evening  entertained  us 
very  much  by  relating  his  experiences  since  coming  to 
America,  which  were  some  of  them  quite  amusing.  It 
seems  that  when  he  landed  in  New  York  he  was  en 
tirely  ignorant  of  the  English  language.  A  relative 
of  his  living  in  New  York  put  him  on  board  a  train 
coming  to  Chicago,  but  he  could  only  make  his  wants 
known  to  someone  who  understood  German.  He  was 
afraid  to  leave  the  car,  lest  he  should  be  left,  so  he 
went  through  to  Milwaukee  without  anything  to  eat, 
only  getting  out  of  the  car  at  Chicago.  Reaching  his 
destination,  he  secured  employment  with  a  German 

175 


176  REMINISCENCES 

store-keeper,  and  there  he  learned  a  smattering  of  Eng 
lish.  Then  he  went  to  Moss  Point,  Mississippi,  in  order 
to  learn  how  to  inspect  lumber,  and  was  then  returning 
to  his  home  in  Germany. 

The  next  morning  I  took  the  young  gentleman,  whose 
name  was  Schreyer,  to  Ferry  Pass,  introduced  him  to 
the  inspector,  left  him  on  the  raft  while  I  went  on 
my  way.  After  a  couple  of  hours'  absence  I  returned, 
took  him  aboard  and  went  back  to  the  mill,  where  I 
bade  him  goodbye,  not  expecting  to  see  him  again.  In 
perhaps  an  hour  I  was  surprised  at  his  re-entering  my 
office.  He  said:  "Mr.  Skinner,  I  have  been  down  on 
your  wharf  looking  at  your  lumber.  I  like  it  very 
much  and  I  should  like  to  sell  for  you  in  Germany 
if  you  would  let  me."  I  replied :  "But,  Mr.  Schreyer, 
I  don't  know  anything  about  you;  I  should  have  to 
know  you  pretty  well  before  I  could  let  you  do  that." 
After  some  farther  consideration  I  invited  him  to  spend 
another  night  with  me  and  talk  the  matter  over.  Dur 
ing  the  evening  he  told  me  that  his  father,  brother  and 
himself  were  in  the  lumber  business  in  Hildesheim, 
Germany,  having  a  lumber  yard  there,  which  handled 
Baltic  woods,  and  that  they  wished  to  handle  pitch  pine 
also.  He  invited  me  to  come  to  Germany  and  visit 
them,  and  learn  about  their  standing.  He  left  the  fol 
lowing  morning,  saying  that  he  would  write  me  when 
he  got  home.  When  this  trip  to  Germany  was  men 
tioned  my  wife  became  very  much  interested,  and  asked 
many  questions  of  Mr.  Schreyer.  I  did  not  place  much 
importance  to  the  talk,  but  some  three  weeks  later  I 
received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Schreyer  urging  me  to  visit 
him,  see  his  father  and  brother;  also  stating  again  his 
wish  to  sell  our  lumber;  he  suggested,  too  the  line  of 


OUR   TRIP    TO    GERMANY  177 

steamers  I  would  find  it  advisable  to  take.  After  this 
my  wife  asked  occasionally  when  I  was  going  to  Ger 
many  but  finally  I  said  I  was  not  going.  She  then 
went  to  Oshkosh  and  I  went  to  Boston.  While  there  I 
went  into  the  office  of  the  North  German  Lloyd  Steam 
ship  Company,  and  found  that  one  of  the  best  state 
rooms  of  the  steamer  "Werra"  was  not  taken.  I  en 
gaged  it  and  telegraphed  my  wife  at  Oshkosh,  that  if 
she  wanted  to  go  to  Germany  she  must  be  in  New 
York  the  following  Monday. 

We  sailed  Tuesday  and  had  as  pleasant  a  trip  across 
the  ocean  as  one  can  make.  The  sea  was  smooth  as  a 
lake  all  the  way  over.  We  were  landed  at  Bremen 
Haven  in  the  rain  at  night,  and  immediately  took  the 
train  for  Bremen.  We  went  to  the  hotel  which  we  had 
selected,  and  met  all  the  manners  due  royalty,  never 
theless,  "they  were  very  sorry,  but  they  were  full." 
We  found  accommodations,  however,  at  another  hotel. 
The  next  morning  Mr.  Schreyer  called  and  we  went 
with  him  to  Hildesheim.  We  spent  about  a  week  at 
this  place  and  found  it  very  quaint  and  interesting. 
At  one  time  it  had  been  a  walled  city.  The  walls, 
however,  had  been  torn  down  and  the  ground  once  oc 
cupied  by  them  had  been  made  into  a  park.  Some  of 
the  houses  of  the  old  town  were  five  or  six  stories  high, 
each  story  projecting  into  the  street  farther  than  the 
one  below  it.  I  remember  seeing  while  at  this  place, 
a  woman  and  a  dog  hitched  together  to  a  cart,  haul 
ing  a  load  of  some  kind.  I  also  recollect  going  to  a 
church  claimed  to  have  been  built  by  Charlemagne; 
beside  it  grew  a  rosebush  as  old  as  the  church  itself. 
There  were  exhibited  to  us  the  vestments  of  the  priests 
of  the  cathedral,  ornamented  with  gold,  very  rich  and 


178  REMINISCENCES 

handsome.  We  were  also  taken  through  the  wine  cel 
lar,  where  we  walked  long  distances  between  casks  of 
wine,  and  were  asked  to  sample  as  many  kinds  as  we 
would  like.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  this  wine  cellar 
belonged  to  private  parties  who  used  it  to  store  wines, 
but  in  olden  times  it  had  belonged  to  the  cathedral  and 
used  for  storing  wines  for  the  priests.  There  was 
an  entrance  to  the  cellar  from  the  rear  of  the  pulpit, 
through  which  the  priests  could  retire  to  refresh  them 
selves,  after  the  arduous  duties  of  their  profession. 

Mr.  Schreyer  was  visiting  us  one  evening,  after  we 
had  been  a  week  in  Hildesheim,  when  Mrs.  Skinner  re 
marked  that  she  would  like  to  take  a  trip  through  Ger 
many.  I  said  I  would  not  travel  where  I  could 
not  make  my  wants  known  and  understood.  Mr. 
Schreyer  asked  Mrs.  Skinner  where  she  would  like  to 
go;  she  named  the  points  she  wished  to  visit,  and  he 
replied  that  he  also  wished  to  see  these  places,  and  if 
his  father  would  give  him  permission  that  he  would 
make  the  journey  with  us.  I  told  him  if  he  would  go 
with  us,  that  I  would  pay  his  expenses,  but  he  re 
sponded:  "If  I  go  I  pay  my  own  expenses  and  you 
pay  yours."  I  mention  this  incident  to  show  the  dif 
ference  between  the  customs  of  Germany  and  of  the 
United  States.  The  German  pays  his  own  way  and 
thinks  it  belittles  him  to  accept  a  treat, 

I  had  by  this  time  agreed  with  Mr.  Schreyer  to  let 
him  act  as  my  agent  in  selling  lumber  and  timber,  all 
sales  to  be  subject  to  my  approval  before  closing. 

The  German  country  was  new  to  me;  I  had  never 
seen  agricultural  districts  where  the  landscape  appeared 
so  finished.  The  country  around  Hildesheim  and  north 
of  there  is  a  fine  locality  for  raising  the  sugar  beet,  and 


OUR    TRIP    TO    GERMANY  179 

sugar  beet  factories  were  a  common  sight.  On  the 
outside  of  the  old  wall  is  built  the  modern  part  of 
the  city,  which  contains  many  fine  residences.  The 
Hartz  Mountains  are  in  view  from  the  city. 

We  journeyed  from  Hildesheim  to  Nuremburg,  which 
still  retains  all  of  its  fortified  walls.  Inside  the 
walls  the  buildings  look  very  much  as  they  did 
five  hundred  years  ago.  It  is  the  quaintest  and 
most  ancient  city  that  I  had  ever  visited.  This  journey, 
of  which  I  am  writing,  was  made  some  twenty-one 
years  ago,  and  I  made  no  effort  at  that  time  to  jot 
down  my  impressions.  I  recollect  there  was  quite  a 
large  stream  of  water  flowing  through  the  city  and  pass 
ing  under  a  stone  arch  in  the  city  wall,  both  at  its 
entrance  and  its  exit.  This  wall  was  built  of  stone, 
was  perhaps  thirty  to  forty  feet  thick  being  thirty  to 
thirty-five  across  on  top,  and  I  should  think,  thirty 
feet  high. 

One  feature  that  interested  me  very  much  was  a  castle 
built  in  the  corner  of  this  wall.  It  was  occupied  often 
by  the  King  of  Bavaria,  but  it  served  principally  as 
a  museum  for  exhibiting  the  instruments  of  torture 
used  in  ancient  times  in  the  strife  between  Protestant 
ism  and  Catholicism.  These  instruments  of  torture 
were  used  by  the  Roman  Catholics  to  compel  Protes 
tants  to  recant  their  belief,  or  in  case  they  would  not, 
to  put  these  victims  of  their  religious  intolerance  to 
death.  I  remember  one  styled  "the  holy  virgin,"  which 
was  built  of  wood  in  the  form  of  a  woman ;  it  had 
hinges  on  one  side  and  opened  on  the  other.  The  inside, 
when  open,  was  the  shape  and  space  for  a  human 
form.  On  the  front  half  of  this  were  placed  iron  spikes, 
that,  when  the  door  was  closed,  would  pierce  the  eyes 


180  REMINISCENCES 

and  mouth  of  the  victim.  The  instrument  was  shut 
by  means  of  a  long  pole.  Another  feature  in  this  castle 
was  a  well,  said  to  be  three  hundred  feet  deep,  which 
was  designed  to  supply  water  to  the  inmates  of  the  castle 
during  a  siege.  I  amused  myself  by  dropping  pebbles 
into  the  well  and  noting  the  time  required  for  them  to 
reach  water  and  the  sound  to  return  to  my  ears. 
It  gave  one  a  realization  of  the  depth.  There  was  a 
subterranean  passage  from  the  castle  to  the  outside  of 
the  wall.  I  found  the  study  of  this  ancient  fortress  ex 
tremely  interesting. 

We  went  to  the  home  of  Albert  Durer  and  saw  many 
of  his  art  works;  also  visited  a  museum  filled  with 
antique  articles  of  virtue;  paintings,  furniture,  old 
china,  jewels,  etc.  Nuremberg  is  the  center  of  the 
toy  manufacturing  of  Germany;  it  is  also  notable  for 
its  wood  carving.  We  also  visited  the  extensive  works 
of  the  Faber  Pencil  Company,  and  were  escorted 
through  the  manufactory  by  Johan  Faber  himself.  He 
ordered  some  pencils  made  in  our  presence,  and  then 
presented  them  to  us.  Adjacent  to  the  town  he  had 
planted  a  red  cedar  forest,  This  tree  grows  very 
rapidly  in  this  section. 

We  left  Nuremberg  and  went  to  Munich,  the  great 
art  center  of  Bavaria.  We  visited  the  principal  art 
galleries:  the  Pinecothek,  filled  with  the  paintings  of 
the  old  masters,  and  which  contains  a  large  number  of 
madonnas,  Christs,  saints,  sinners  and  subjects  chiefly 
religious.  I  presume  these  pictures  represent  high  art, 
but  I  did  not  admire  them  greatly,  either  in  subject 
or  technique.  The  building  called  the  New  Pinecothek 
is  devoted  to  works  of  modern  painters  and  I  admire 
these  much  more  than  I  did  those  in  the  former  gal- 


OUR    TRIP    TO    GERMANY  181 

lery ;  but  the  works  of  art  which  pleased  me  most  were 
in  another  building  called  the  Glypothek  which  is  used 
for  general  art  exhibitions.  The  paintings  here  were 
up  to  date  and  according  to  my  mind  far  superior  to 
the  old.  Our  stay  at  Munich  was  to  be  so  short  that 
we  were  able  to  give  but  a  cursory  view  to  the  pic 
tures.  One  of  the  most  noticeable  objects  in  Munich  is 
the  colossal  statue  of  Bavaria,  one  hundred  and  seventy 
feet  high.  I  remember  this  great  bronze  most  distinctly, 
but  I  think  it  was  the  size  rather  than  its  merits  as  a 
work  of  art  which  impressed  me. 

One  Sunday  we  attended  The  King's  Opera  House 
and  heard  "Lohengrin"  given  by  his  majesty's  own 
opera  troupe.  The  old  ladies  who  sat  in  the  galleries 
were  knitting  and  they  were  all  bonnetless. 

It  is  in  this  same  Bavaria  where  the  celebrated  beer 
of  this  name  is  manufactured.  Our  stay  in  this  place 
was  far  too  brief.  One  could  stay  a  month  or  more 
in  this  city  as  it  is  certainly  very  attractive. 

From  Munich  we  went  to  Freiburg,  via  Augsburg, 
Lake  Constance  and  Basle,  on  the  borders  of  Switzer 
land.  We  did  not  stop  at  Lake  Constance,  but  we  could 
see  the  lake  and  the  steamboats  plying  its  waters.  The 
south  coast  of  the  lake  is  very  bold ;  it  is  this  lake  which 
is  the  source  of  the  Rhine.  I  do  not  remember  that  we 
stopped  at  Basle,  but  I  recall  a  view  of  the  falls  in  the 
river  and  an  iron  suspension  bridge  above  them.  We 
stopped  at  Freiburg  over  night,  my  object  being  to 
visit  a  Mr.  Eivers.  A  son  of  this  gentleman  was  em 
ployed  in  my  store  in  Escambia  and  the  young  man 
had  proved  so  worthy  that  I  looked  upon  him  with 
much  favor.  I  had  promised  him  that  when  in  Grer- 
many  I  would  intercede  with  his  estranged  father  in 


182  REMINISCENCES 

his  behalf.  The  son  it  seemed  had  incurred  his  father's 
serious  displeasure,  but  now  sought  a  reconciliation. 
Mr.  Rivers  I  found  to  be  absent  from  town  and  we  met 
only  the  wife  and  daughters. 

There  was  not  much  to  interest  us  in  Freiburg,  ex 
cept  the  cathedral,  so  the  following  morning  we  took 
the  train  for  Heidelberg,  the  next  afternoon  we  took 
a  carriage  to  the  castle ;  arriving  at  the  end  of  the  drive 
we  were  obliged  to  walk  some  distance.  Seeing  a  gen 
tleman  coming  down  the  roadway  towards  us  I  re 
marked:  "I  believe  that  is  Mr.  Rivers."  When  he 
approached  I  asked  the  gentleman  if  his  name  were 
not  Rivers,  and  he  replied  that  it  was.  I  informed  him 
that  his  son  was  in  my  employ  in  America,  but  he 
seemed  to  have  little  interest  in  him.  I  learned,  how 
ever,  that  he  was  stopping  at  the  same  hotel  that  we 
were,  so  I  arranged  for  an  interview  with  him  that 
evening.  We  then  left  him  and  continued  our  way  to 
the  castle.  I  have  seen  nothing  before  or  since  which 
interested  me  as  much  as  did  that  old  castle.  Such  a 
gigantic,  beautiful  old  ruin!  I  cannot  blame  the  Ger 
mans  for  hating  the  French  who  came  into  the  country 
and  destroyed  this  relic  of  ancient  glory.  A  large  por 
tion  of  the  castle  was  ruined  by  the  invaders,  but  some 
of  it  was  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation. 

Heidelberg  is  situated  on  the  Necker  River  (a  branch 
of  the  Rhine)  some  twenty  miles  from  its  mouth.  The 
castle  is  situated  on  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  over 
looks  the  town  and  the  river.  There  had  once  been  a 
forest  east  of  the  castle  but  it  had  been  made  into  a 
beautiful  park.  Inside  the  castle,  one  large  hall  was 
used  as  a  museum,  and  in  it  were  stored  many  articles 
of  historic  value.  From  the  parapet  which  was  about 


OUR    TRIP    TO    GERMANY  183 

two  hundred  feet  long  and  fifty  wide,  one  had  a  beau 
tiful  view  of  the  Necker  River.  In  one  corner  of  the 
parapet  was  a  circular  room,  having  a  roof  like  an 
umbrella ;  on  a  bench  within  this  room  we  saw  a  young 
lady  reading,  she  looked  very  romantic  amid  such  sur 
roundings.  Mr.  Schreyer  spoke  to  her  in  German.  She 
had  recognized  us  as  Americans  and  said  to  Mr.  S. 
that  it  was  not  necessary  to  speak  to  her  in  German  as 
she  was  from  Buffalo,  N.  Y.  She  also  explained  that 
she  was  not  feeling  very  well  and  so  had  remained  at 
the  castle  while  her  companions  went  about  Our  view 
of  this  old  ruin  was  far  too  short;  I  hope  sometime  to 
be  able  to  give  it  a  more  satisfactory  visit.  This  castle 
is  to  other  castles  what  the  Chicago  exposition  was  to 
other  fairs.  It  excelled  them  all. 

The  next  morning  we  took  the  train  for  Mannheim, 
where  we  were  to  take  the  steamer  down  that  most  pic 
turesque  river  in  the  world :  the  Rhine.  Castles  to  the 
right  of  you,  castles  to  the  left  of  you;  history  and 
legend  written  on  every  point  of  rock,  on  every  moun 
tain  and  forest  that  we  passed. 

Landing  at  Rudesheim,  we  stayed  over  night,  putting 
up  at  a  very  pretty  little  hotel,  which  was  covered  with 
vines  and  flowers,  and  where  there  were  vine  em 
bowered  arbors  in  which  to  drink  wine.  I  do  not  recall 
that  any  other  visitors  were  stopping  there  at  this  time. 
Above  the  hotel  on  the  mountain  side  was  situated  the 
celebrated  Niederwald  monument  of  bronze.  There  was 
a  cog  railroad  running  from  the  hotel  to  the  monument. 
The  hillside  about  was  terraced  and  planted  with  grape 
vines,  for  it  is  here  that  the  celebrated  Rudesheimer 
wine  is  made.  The  railroad  also  runs  through  fine 
vineyards  as  it  ascends. 


184:  EEMINISCENCES 

As  to  the  monument :  The  superstructure  was  about 
twenty  feet  square,  upon  the  top  of  this  was  repre 
sented  a  large  arm  chair,  before  which  stood  the  gigan 
tic  but  elegant  figure  of  "Germania."  One  arm  was 
raised  and  the  hand  pointed  across  the  Rhine  towards 
France.  On  each  side  of  the  superstructure  were  bas- 
reliefs,  representing  noted  Germans,  from  King  Wil 
liam  down,  famous  for  their  connection  with  the 
Franco-Prussian  war.  All  the  figures  were  moulded 
from  life.  On  one  side  is  shown  the  young  soldier 
leaving  his  father,  mother  and  sweetheart,  for  the  war, 
while  on  the  other  side  is  represented  his  victorious  re 
turn.  The  monument  is  placed  on  a  narrow  flat  piece 
of  ground,  situated  about  half-way  up  the  mountain. 
We  returned  to  the  hotel  for  the  night ;  everything  there 
was  very  quiet  and  pleasant.  The  moon  shone  bril 
liantly,  the  wine  was  delicious.  One  could  sit  in  the 
moonlight  enjoying  the  inspiration  of  a  good  cigar  and 
dream  of  the  golden  legends  which  seemed  floating  in 
the  air. 

A  little  farther  down  was  Bingen — "Fair  Bingen  on 
the  Rhine."  I  believe  that  I  never  enjoyed  a  journey 
so  much  as  this  delightful  trip  down  the  river.  I  doubt 
if  there  is  another  locality  in  the  world,  possessing  so 
much  of  legend,  romance  and  history  as  the  borders  of 
the  Rhine  above  Cologne. 

We  visited  the  fortress  of  Ehrenberestein,  which  is 
regarded  as  the  Gibraltar  of  the  Rhine.  It  is  garri 
soned  by  many  thousand  soldiers  and  provisioned  for 
many  years.  It  looked  to  me  to  be  wholly  impreg 
nable. 

At  Cologne  the  most  important  feature  was  the  cathe 
dral,  the  spires  of  which,  towering  to  the  great  height 


OUR    TKIP    TO    GEBMANY  185 

of  five  hundred  and  twelve  feet,  one  sees  before  reach 
ing  the  city.  It  is  the  most  stupendous  Gothic  struc 
ture  in  the  world,  and  required  over  six  hundred  years 
to  build.  It  was  planned  and  building  commenced  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  before  Columbus  sailed  to 
America.  This  beautiful  specimen  of  architecture  is 
the  glory  of  Cologne.  As  we  entered  the  mammoth 
structure,  some  sort  of  religious  service  was  taking 
place.  We  remained  some  time  admiring  the  grandeur 
and  beauty  of  the  vast  interior. 

The  next  day  we  took  the  train  for  Dusseldorf,  this 
city  being  another  art  center  of  Germany.  While  there 
I  witnessed  the  unloading  of  several  regiments  of  sol 
diers  from  the  cars.  I  saw  these  men  march  later 
through  the  streets.  I  was  impressed  by  their  quick, 
springy  step,  and  felt  that  anything  in  their  way  would 
have  to  step  aside  or  be  run  over.  We  visited  the  art 
school  and  also  witnessed  the  entrance  into  the  city 
of  the  Crown  Prince  Frederick  and  his  son,  Prince 
Henry.  We  were  in  an  open  carriage  and  as  the  prince 
and  his  retinue  drove  by,  Mr.  Schreyer  startled  me  by 
rising  to  his  feet  and  uttering  a  horrible  howl.  For  a 
moment  I  thought  he  had  lost  his  senses,  but  no,  it  was 
intended  to  be  a  good  American  cheer  given  in  Ger 
man. 

The  river  below  Dusseldorf  runs  through  a  flat 
country  which  is  not  so  interesting,  so  we  took  the  train 
for  Amsterdam,  arriving  there  after  dark.  We  decided 
to  stop  at  the  hotel  Amsdel.  While  walking  from  the 
station,  carrying  my  luggage,  a  man  came  up  and  took 
hold  of  my  satchel ;  I  told  him  in  good  vigorous  Amer 
ican  to  let  go,  but  he  hung  on.  I  drew  my  right  hand 
back  and  planted  a  blow  between  his  eyes ;  then  he  let 


186  REMINISCENCES 

go.  Schreyer  was  much  alarmed  lest  the  police  run  me 
in,  but  I  heard  no  more  of  the  incident. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  hotel  we  could  procure  no 
rooms  below  the  fourth  floor;  my  wife  protested  that 
she  could  not  climb  so  many  stairs,  but  when  she  found 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  she  did  it.  The  hotel  had 
no  lift.  When  the  servant  came  to  announce  supper 
my  wife  ordered  it  brought  to  our  room,  the  servant 
said :  that  if  the  madame  could  walk  down  that  the  sup 
per  would  be  so  much  better — and  she  walked. 

Amsterdam  is  a  typical  Holland  city,  with  streets 
for  the  most  part  canals.  By  these,  passengers  and 
freight  are  transported  from  one  part  of  the  city  to 
another.  There  are  narrow  streets  on  each  side  of  the 
canal,  but  the  liquid  avenue  is  the  center.  This  city 
is  built  on  the  west  arm  of  the  Zuyder  Zee.  Our  stay 
was  so  short  that  we  saw  but  little  of  the  place,  as  the 
next  day  we  took  the  train  for  Delft,  passing  through 
Haarlem  and  Leyden.  I  remember  that  we  visited  a 
church,  which  was  celebrated,  though  I  have  forgotten 
its  historical  connection  as  well  as  the  name.  We  also 
visited  the  house  wherein  the  Prince  of  Orange  was 
assassinated,  a  mark  on  the  floor  showing  where  the 
prince  had  stood  when  the  assassin  presented  him  with 
the  pretended  petition  and  then  plunged  the  dagger  into 
his  breast.  The  house  would  today  be  considered  of 
very  mean  architecture ;  the  stairway  by  which  he  de 
scended  from  his  dressing  room  to  meet  his  death,  was 
very  narrow,  showing  how  simple  was  the  life  of  this 
great  warrior  and  statesman. 

From  Delft  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove  to  Queen 
Emma's  palace,  in  the  woods,  where  we  greatly  admired 
the  beautiful  Linden  trees.  From  there  we  went  to 


OUR    TRIP    TO    GERMANY  187 

Rotterdam  and  Dordrecht,  the  two  principal  seaports 
of  the  Netherlands.  These  places  are  very  quaint  and 
interesting,  and  to  me  noticeable  because  of  their  wind 
sawmills.  Each  mill  had  three  gang  saw  frames  which 
would  saw  three  pieces  of  timber  at  once;  each  was 
hung  on  one-third  of  the  circle  and  all  were  propelled 
by  a  huge  windmill. 

We  went  from  Dordrecht  to  Antwerp.  I  remember 
visiting  the  bourse  at  this  place,  also  seeing  the  spire 
of  the  cathedral.  Two  spires  had  evidently  been  planned, 
but  only  one  completed.  I  thought  it  the  most  beautiful 
spire  I  had  ever  seen.  Antwerp  is  a  great  shipping  port 
and  does  a  large  trade  in  lumber.  I  afterwards  shipped 
a  great  deal  of  lumber  to  this  place. 

Mr.  Schreyer  left  us  at  this  point,  returning  to  Hildes- 
heim.  After  his  departure  I  felt  like  a  child  lost 
among  strangers.  We  took  the  train  at  Antwerp  for 
Calais;  all  went  well  until  we  arrived  at  the  French 
border.  I  had  understood  that  we  could  go  through 
Calais  without  change  of  cars,  but  when  we  arrived  at 
the  French  frontier  every  one  in  the  cars  alighted.  I 
did  not  know  what  to  make  of  it.  The  guard  came  to 
us  several  times  and  said  something  which  we  did  not 
understand,  then  a  lady  came  and  spoke  in  what  my 
wife  recognized  as  French,  and  we  at  last  comprehended 
that  they  wished  us  to  go  out  of  the  car,  go  through  the 
custom  house,  and  enter  a  train  for  Calais.  I  noted  that 
the  country  through  which  we  traveled  after  this,  was 
very  flat  and  low ;  that  the  French  soldiers  were  of  short 
stature  and  were  gaudily  dressed.  When  we  arrived  at 
the  boat  landing  on  the  pier  we  found  people  who  could 
talk  American  with  a  bad  brogue  which  they  called 


188  KEMINISCENCES 

English.    We  had  rather  an  unpleasant  trip  across  the 
channel  from  Calais  to  Dover. 

We  went  by  rail  to  London  and  stopped  at  the  Gros- 
venor  Hotel,  adjoining  the  Victoria  railroad  station. 
We  visited  the  Kensington  museum,  where  I  was  highly 
entertained.  The  paintings  were  largely  from  the  early 
English  masters;  Lely,  Benjamin  West,  Turner  and 
others ;  but  what  interested  me  most  was  the  machinery 
department  which  I  did  not  discover  until  late  in  the 
evening.  Stored  therein  was  the  first  locomotive  made 
in  England ;  also  a  model  of  the  first  steamboat  built  in 
that  country.  I  remained  in  this  section  until  they 
began  closing  for  the  night.  I  enjoyed  greatly  the  many 
interesting  subjects.  When  we  came  out  i't  was  raining 
a  little,  I  called  a  hansom  and  when  the  cabby  closed 
the  door  he  asked  "Where  to?"  I  replied:  "To  the 
Gross- venor."  Cabby  said  again:  "Where?"  and  I  re 
peated:  "The  Gross-venor."  Then  he  called  a  police 
man,  who  was  standing  by  and  asked  him:  "Can  you 
tell  me  where  this  man  wants  to  go  ?"  I  said  once  more : 
"To  the  Gross-venor."  My  wife  began  to  "catch  on" 
that  my  pronunciation  was  at  fault,  and  said  to  me 
"Grove — nor."  Then  everything  was  plain  to  th^  cab 
man  and  he  took  us  to  our  hotel. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

ENGLISH  BROTHERS  AND  ENGLAND. 

I  will  now  go  back  to  the  year  1878.  I  had  sold 
two  cargoes  of  lumber  to  be  shipped  to  Sutton  Bridge, 
in  England.  In  due  time  a  ship  appeared  to  take  one 
of  the  cargoes,  a  fine  elderly  man  by  the  name  of  Ingra- 
ham  was  the  Captain.  I  invited  him  to  take  dinner 
with  me  Christmas,  and  he  proved  to  be  a  genial  and 
kind  hearted  gentleman.  When  he  had  his  cargo  aboard 
and  was  ready  to  sail,  he  asked  me  if  I  would  do  busi 
ness  direct  with  the  firm  he  represented,  without  the 
intervention  of  commission  merchants.  He  stated  that 
his  employers  were  very  wealthy,  that  they  did  an  ex 
tensive  business  in  lumber;  that  they  had  four  vessels 
of  their  own;  that  they  received  cargoes  at  Sutton 
Bridge  and  East  Lynn  on  the  east  coast  of  England; 
and  that  they  had  large  sawmills  and  planing  mills  at 
Peterborough,  which  place  was  reached  by  rail  from 
both  ports.  I  told  him  I  would  be  glad  to  do  so.  Cap 
tain  Ingraham  came  after  lumber  for  two  or  three  years 
and  I  very  much  enjoyed  knowing  him. 

I  think  about  the  year  1882,  one  of  their  vessels  came 
and  received  a  cargo  from  me,  which,  upon  being  landed, 
did  not  give  satisfaction.  The  style  of  the  firm  name 
was  English  Brothers,  and  consisted  of  an  old  gentle 
man  and  his  sons.  I  knew  that  the  cargo  when  I  shipped 
it  was  all  right  and  was  what  I  had  sold  them,  and  of 
course  I  refused  to  allow  their  reclamation.  I  wrote 

189 


190  REMINISCENCES 

them  many  sarcastic  and  caustic  letters  and  our  business 
relations  became  quite  strained.  Captain  Ingraham  was 
at  that  time  after  a  cargo  of  wood  in  the  Baltic  Sea. 
When  he  returned  to  Sutton  Bridge  he  told  his  firm  that 
he  knew  I  had  never  sent  such  a  shipment.  He  waited 
until  the  captain,  who  had  shipped  the  cargo,  returned, 
for,  knowing  the  tricks  of  the  trade,  as  well  as  this  skip 
per,  pretty  well,  he  had  formed  his  opinion  as  to  how 
the  cargo  got  aboard  the  vessel.  He  asked  the  captain 
if  there  had  been  any  rough  weather  while  he  lay  in  port 
at  Pensacola,  to  which  the  skipper  replied  that  there  had 
been,  and  that  he  had  lost  all  his  timber  while  loading, 
but  that  he  had  sent  out  his  sailors  to  pick  up  as  many 
pieces  as  they  had  lost,  which  they  did  and  he  had  put 
these  into  the  cargo  in  place  of  those  lost ;  he  had  been 
careful,  however,  to  keep  this  information  from  the  own 
ers.  Captain  Ingraham,  feeling  friendly  toward  me, 
explained  to  English  Brothers  how  the  rotten,  worm- 
eaten  timber  got  into  the  ship,  and  convinced  the  firm 
that  it  was  the  captain  of  the  vessel  who  was  the  rascal 
and  not  I.  English  Bros,  dropped  their  suit  for  recla 
mation,  but  did  not  make  the  amende  honorable  which 
I  thought  my  due.  However,  they  knew  then  that  I  was 
not  to  blame  and  the  next  fall  they  sent  two  vessels  to 
me  for  cargoes,  which  were  duly  loaded,  shipped  and 
paid  for. 

In  March,  I  received  a  cablegram  from  them,  asking 
me  to  buy  a  cargo  for  their  account  for  immediate  ship 
ment.  There  was  a  vessel  in  port,  loaded  by  L.  M.  Mer- 
ritt,  of  tonnage  suitable  for  the  port  of  Sutton  Bridge, 
which  I  bought  of  him  for  them.  I  think  that  the  cargo 
came  to  about  £1,000,  or  $5,000.  Of  this  cargo  I  had 
furnished  about  100,000  feet,  and  I  was  satisfied  that 


ENGLISH    BROTHERS  191 

the  whole  cargo  was  of  good  quality.  As  usual,  I  attached 
the  specifications  of  the  cargo,  the  charter-party  of  the 
vessel,  and  drew  on  them  for  the  value  of  the  cargo,  and 
billed  it  to  them  for  exactly  what  I  had  paid  for  it,  and 
felt  that  my  draft  would  be  cheerfully  paid  when  it 
should  be  presented.  I  turned  the  papers  over  to  my 
bank,  as  was  the  custom,  and  the  bank  gave  me  credit 
for  the  amount  of  the  draft.  In  due  course  of  time  the 
bank  was  informed  by  cable  that  payment  had  been  re 
fused.  I  was  entirely  in  the  dark  as  to  the  reason,  until 
I  received  a  letter  from  English  Bros.,  saying  that  the 
cargo  was  not  what  they  wanted,  that  it  contained  too 
many  3x9-inch  deals.  I  wrote  them  that  I  did  not  know 
what  they  wanted,  only  by  the  specifications  mentioned 
in  the  telegram ;  that  was  "3x9  and  up,"  which  I  bought 
for  them  as  instructed.  They  replied  that  I  should  have 
known  that  they  wanted  what  they  had  usually  bought 
from  me.  I  wrote  in  reply  that  I  had  no  telepathic  com 
munication  with  them,  telling  me  what  they  wanted, 
that  it  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  for  them  to  stipu 
late  in  their  cable  that  cargo  should  be  as  usual,  if  they 
wished  such,  instead  of  wiring,  "3x9  and  up."  The  cor 
respondence  became  rather  acrimonious.  After  a  while 
I  received  account  of  sale,  "For  Whom  It  May  Con 
cern,"  with  a  long  account  of  commissions  and  storage, 
and  a  draft  in  my  favor  to  cover  the  balance,  which 
amounted  to  about  three-fifths  of  what  I  had  paid  for 
the  cargo ;  so  when  I  was  in  London  the  last  of  Septem 
ber  I  thought  I  would  go  to  Sutton  Bridge  and  see  the 
gentlemen,  as  I  was  about  $2,000  short  on  the  accommo 
dation,  and  from  any  course  of  reasoning  that  I  could 
pursue,  I  could  not  find  myself  blamable  in  the  affair. 
I  felt  the  fault  to  be  wholly  on  their  side.  So  I  con- 


192  REMINISCENCES 

eluded  to  go  to  Button  Bridge  and  visit  Captain  Ingra 
ham,  my  wife  accompanying  me. 

We  took  the  cars  for  Peterborough,  where  we  changed 
cars  for  Wisbech,  at  which  place  several  of  the  sons  of 
Mr.  English  lived  and  maintained  a  lumber  yard.  Sut- 
ton  Bridge  was  a  few  miles  beyond  Wisbech,  and  before 
going  there  I  went  into  the  office  of  English  Bros,  to 
inquire  about  Mr.  Ingraham.  While  making  my  queries 
at  the  desk  I  heard  one  man  say  to  another  in  an  adjoin 
ing  room  that  he  believed  that  the  stranger  at  the  desk 
was  Mr.  Skinner  of  Florida. 

We  took  the  train  for  Sutton  Bridge,  which  we  found 
to  be  a  town  of  minor  importance,  being  a  small  shipping 
port.  It  had  a  hotel  of  meager  accommodations,  at 
which  we  stopped.  I  learned  at  Wisbech  that  Captain 
Ingraham  had  given  up  sea-faring  life,  that  Mr.  English 
had  placed  him  in  charge  of  some  docks  which  he  had 
built  at  Sutton  Bridge,  and  that  he  was  engaged  there 
at  the  present  time,  in  discharging  a  cargo  of  lumber. 
After  locating  at  the  hotel,  I  went  to  the  docks  and 
looked  him  up.  I  found  him  to  be  little  changed  since 
I  last  met  him ;  at  that  time  he  was  between  sixty  and 
sixty-five  years  of  age.  I  was  very  much  interested  in 
this  man,  he  was  so  like  my  own  father  when  he  was  of 
his  age.  Mr.  Ingraham  was  very  much  surprised  and 
pleased  to  see  me.  My  attention  was  much  drawn  to 
their  methods  of  moving  lumber,  so  different  was  it  from 
ours.  The  ship  delivered  the  lumber  on  the  wharf ;  then 
each  workman  took  a  deal  on  his  back,  it  being  all  he 
could  lift,  and  carrying  it  to  a  pile  two  hundred  feet  dis 
tant,  where  two  men  took  it  from  him  and  he  returned 
for  another  load,  two  men  placing  another  deal  on  his 
back.  With  us  we  rarely  lifted  those  weighty  deals,  but 


ENGLISH    BROTHERS  193 

instead  put  them  on  rollers  or  two- wheeled  carts.  Here 
in  England  a  "growler"  of  beer  was  kept  where  the  man 
could  take  a  drink  whenever  he  wished  one.  I  did  not 
fancy  this  method  of  soul-carting  lumber,  or  rather  of 
not  carting  it — as  it  transformed  men  into  beasts  of  bur 
den  ;  but  it  has  been  a  custom  here  from  time  immemo 
rial,  and  so  of  course  was  considered  right. 

Captain  Ingraham  was  desirous  that  we  go  home  with 
him,  and  accordingly  the  next  day  we  did  so.  He  and 
his  wife  lived  alone  except  when  some  of  their  children 
were  visiting  them.  At  that  time  a  daughter  was  at 
home.  She  was,  I  think,  employed  in  a  ladies'  furnish 
ing  house  in  London.  She  appeared  an  honest^  comely 
girl,  much  like  her  father  and  mother.  Captain  Ingra 
ham  and  wife  made  it  very  pleasant.  I  appreciated  espe 
cially  the  character  of  this  man,  with  his  practical  good 
sense  and  his  kindly  spirit. 

While  at  this  place  English  Bros,  sent  a  request  that 
I  come  to  Wisbech,  which  I  did.  When  they  learned 
that  my  wife  was  with  me,  they  sent  to  Sutton  Bridge 
for  her.  One  of  the  sons  of  Mr.  English  took  us  to  his 
home.  They  treated  us  very  kindly  and  showed  us  much 
attention.  While  we  were  visiting  them  a  political  meet 
ing  occurred  about  six  miles  distant,  within  the  grounds 
of  some  gentleman's  manor.  It  was  a  meeting  of  the 
supporters  of  the  Conservative  party  of  England.  The 
admission  to  the  grounds  was  by  card,  this  was  required, 
in  order  to  keep  out  persons  who  might  make  a  disturb 
ance  or  oppose  the  sentiments  expressed  by  the  speakers. 
These  were  to  be  the  Earl  of  Cardigan  and  a  Mr.  Law 
rence,  M.  P.,  the  latter  gentleman  being  a  cousin  of 
Mrs.  Alfred  English.  I  was  invited  by  one  of  the 


194  REMINISCENCES 

brothers  to  attend  this  meeting  and  I  cordially  ac 
cepted. 

After  luncheon,  four  of  us  mounted  what  was  called 
a  "trap"  and  went  to  hear  the  speaking.  The  grounds 
in  which  the  meeting  was  held  were  very  beautiful,  and 
I  was  very  much  interested  in  hearing  the  politics  of 
this  country  expounded.  The  audience  stood  while  hear 
ing  the  speakers  and  before  I  was  aware  I  became 
separated  from  my  companions  by  the  crowd,  and  I  did 
not  find  them  again  that  afternoon. 

The  Earl  was  a  very  gentlemanly  looking  man.  He 
wore  a  frock  coat  and  kept  both  hands  in  its  pockets. 
He  spoke  in  a  conversational  tone,  without  gestures,  was 
very  candid  and  argumentative,  and  made  a  favorable 
impression  upon  me.  There  did  not  appear  to  be  much 
enthusiasm  in  the  crowd,  and  there  was  no  cheering  at 
the  good  points  made  by  the  speakers.  Every  thing 
was  very  decorous  until  it  came  to  the  last  speaker,  who 
was  a  sturdy  red-faced  Englishman  who  attacked  his 
subject  with  a  vim.  He  spoke  in  a  loud  voice,  pawed 
the  air  with  his  hands,  and  reminded  me  of  the  political 
wind-jammers  at  home.  After  the  meeting  broke  up,  I 
was  unable  to  find  either  my  escorts  or  the  trap,  so  I 
started  with  the  crowd  and  walked  back  to  the  city. 
When  I  inquired  for  my  wife,  and  was  informed  that 
the  ladies  finding  the  men  all  gone  to  the  meeting,  con 
cluded  that  they  would  walk  there  themselves,  and  that 
they  had  not  yet  returned.  English  women  thought 
nothing  of  walking  that  distance.  I  concluded  that 
my  wife  would  come  back  a  ruin,  but  I  sat  down  and 
awaited  developments.  Soon  the  ladies  returned,  and 
were  in  high  spirits,  they  had  had  a  very  good  time, 
had  enjoyed  themselves  and  my  wife  had  walked  twelve 


ENGLISH    BROTHERS  195 

miles.  About  two  was  her  limit  in  America.  How  a 
person  can  walk  such  a  distance  in  England  without 
exhaustion,  has  ever  since  been  a  wonder  to  me. 

During  this  visit  Mr.  Arthur  English  took  me  to  see 
his  country  place,  which  proved  to  be  very  handsome. 
I  do  not  remember  where  it  was  located.  His  wife 
was  absent  at  the  time,  she  was  the  daughter  of  an 
Irish  clergyman.  Arthur  English  was  the  oldest  son, 
and  was  managing  head  of  English  Bros.,  lumber  dealers 
and  ship  owners.  It  was  said  that  he  was  very  anxious 
to  be  knighted  by  the  queen;  to  be  elevated  from  the 
non-aristocratic  status  of  a  lumber  dealer  to  the  dignity 
of  knighthood.  Whether  his  ambitions  have  ever  been 
realized  I  do  not  know,  but  for  his  sake  I  trust  they 
were  as  he  was  certainly  a  pleasing  gentleman.  The 
sons  were  very  desirous  that  I  should  visit  their  father, 
who  was  living  in  the  country  near  Peterborough.  He 
had  been  a  very  enterprising  man,  was  now  somewhat 
advanced  in  years,  being  about  seventy  at  this  time. 
I  went  to  see  him  and  was  entertained  at  dinner;  his 
wife,  himself  and  two  of  his  sons  were  there.  I  was 
a  little  uneasy  not  knowing  whether  he  had  seen  or  read 
my  letter,  in  which  was  a  severe  allusion  to  him  in 
connection  with  the  reclamation  on  the  cargo  of  timber 
before  mentioned.  Mr.  English  was  a  wealthy  man 
and  a  large  land  owner  for  this  part  of  the  world,  hav 
ing  some  three  hundred  acres  which  he  farmed.  His 
wife  was  somewhat  dictatorial  and  opinionated.  Once 
during  a  conversation  at  dinner  she  remarked  that  she 
wished  that  we  would  keep  our  wheat  at  home,  and  not 
send  it  over  to  England.  I  was  informed  that  Mr. 
English  raised  wheat  largely  and  that  American  wheat 


196  REMINISCENCES 

kept  the  price  of  that  commodity  down,  so  that  he  did 
not  realize  as  much  for  it  as  he  wished. 

While  here  I  also  visited  a  country  fair  giving  a  fine 
exhibition  of  cattle  and  horses,  which  I  found  very  at 
tractive.  While  strolling  through  the  fair  with  one  of 
the  English  brothers,  he  called  my  attention  to  a  robust 
looking  man  as  Lord  So-and-So ;  I  remarked  that  I  was 
not  as  much  interested  in  lords  as  I  was  in  cattle.  My 
host  asked  me  if  I  did  not  reverence  the  English  no 
bleman.  I  replied  "no,  unless  there  is  something  to  raise 
him  above  other  men;  that  the  fact  alone  of  his  title 
would  have  no  weight  with  me."  He  asked  if  the 
Americans  did  not  reverence  the  Queen  of  England.  I 
replied  that  Americans  respected  and  admired  the  Queen 
because  they  believed  her  to  be  a  good  woman ;  that  we 
honored  our  good  women  very  highly  and  that  all  such 
women  were  practically  queens  in  America.  He  evi 
dently  was  under  the  impression  that  we  did  not  know 
a  good  thing  when  we  saw  it. 

During  this  visit  I  had  interviewed  a  couple  of  at- 
torneys-at-law  who  had  been  recommended  to  me  as  the 
best  of  their  kind  in  Wisbech,  and  had  laid  before 
them  my  demands  for  the  disputed  cargo.  They  were 
not  enthusiastic  as  to  my  chances  of  collecting  the  claim ; 
said  that  the  English  Bros,  were  very  influential  in  that 
locality,  and  that  it  would  be  up-hill  business  to  win  a 
suit  against  them.  I  had  talked  to  the  different  mem 
bers  of  the  firm  in  regard  to  a  settlement,  but  they  were 
very  insistent  that  I  should  have  known  what  they 
wanted,  and  that  I  was  very  obtuse  not  to  have  had 
telepathic  knowledge  of  their  wants.  The  matter  was 
left  in  that  state. 

On  my  way  back  to  London  my  wife  wished  to  stop 


ENGLISH    BEOTHEES  197 

at  Peterborough  and  see  the  cathedral  which  was  being 
repaired.  Some  historic  graves  are  here,  among  them 
that  of  Catherine  of  Aragon.  Two  ladies  were  being 
escorted  about  the  cathedral  at  the  same  time  we  were. 
They  proved  to  be  the  daughters  of  the  poet  Long 
fellow.  Miss  Alice  afterwards  became  dean  of  Rad- 
cliffe  college,  and  Anna  married  Joseph  Thorpe,  brother 
of  Ole  Bull's  wife. 

While  waiting  at  the  station  for  the  train  from  the 
north,  I  took  occasion  to  look  at  the  locomotive  which 
was  to  take  us  to  London,  covering  the  distance  of 
seventy  miles  in  one  hour.  It  was  of  the  usual  English 
type,  the  connection  rods  and  cylinders  being  between 
the  driving  wheels.  It  had  no  cow-catcher.  What  I 
noticed  most,  was  the  enormous  diameter  of  the  driving 
wheels;  it  had  but  two,  one  on  each  side  of  the  boiler, 
they  were  eight  feet  in  diameter.  The  road  was  double- 
tracked  and  there  were  no  grade  crossings,  all  being 
either  under  the  track  or  over  it  on  bridges;  so  the 
road  was  nearly  free  of  obstructions  and  was  nearly 
level  all  the  way  to  London. 

We  stopped  at  the  same  hotel  as  before  as  it  con 
veniently  adjoins  the  Victoria  station.  A  day  or  two 
after  arriving,  I  received  a  cable  from  home  telling 
me  that  my  mill  had  burned.  We  had  intended  to  make 
a  tour  of  England  and  Scotland,  but  this  information 
cut  short  our  trip.  I  engaged  passage  by  the  first 
German  Lloyd  steamer  leaving  Southampton  for  New 
York  City.  It  happened  to  be  the  "Werra,"  the  same 
vessel  on  which  we  had  come  over. 

While  waiting  in  London  for  the  steamer  I  thought  I 
would  go  to  Wisbech  and  make  another  effort  to  settle 
my  claim  against  English  Bros.  I  met  Mr.  Arthur 


198  REMINISCENCES 

English,  told  him  of  my  loss,  and  offered  to  take  $1,000 
for  settlement  of  the  claim,  which  he  freely  paid.  I 
never  did  any  more  business  with  them.  On  the  ar 
rival  of  the  steamer  we  sailed  for  home.  Our  return 
trip  was  quite  different  from  the  one  going  over,  it  had 
then  been  as  smooth  as  a  mill  pond  all  the  way,  but  com 
ing  back  the  wind  blew  a  gale,  the  waves  rolling  very 
high.  I  arose  the  first  morning,  and  after  taking  my 
promenade  on  deck,  returned  to  our  stateroom,  when  I 
was  greeted  with  this  exclamation,  from  my  wife :  "Oh 
Emory,  I  am  so  sick.  I  shall  die — but  I  don't  care, 
I've  had  such  a  good  time !" 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

GOVERNMENT  DEALINGS  IN  LOGS  AND  POLITICS. 

On  the  journey  home  I  spent  much  time  studying 
how  I  should  construct  the  mill  which  I  had  resolved 
to  build.  I  satisfied  my  mind  on  all  points  but  one,  and 
that  was  how  I  would  get  the  logs  into  the  mill.  The 
old  mill  was  on  a  brick  foundation,  which  was  too 
narrow  for  placing  the  machinery  as  I  wished  and  still 
have  room  for  the  log-haul. 

As  soon  as  we  landed  in  New  York  my  wife  went  to 
visit  her  parents  in  Wisconsin,  and  I  took  the  first  train 
home.  On  arriving  at  Flomaton  I  met  by  chance  a 
Mr.  Neacy,  of  Filer  &  Stowell  Co.,  Milwaukee,  saw 
mill  machinery  builders.  I  told  him  I  wanted  him  to 
go  home  with  me ;  which  he  did.  We  set  up  a  drafting 
board  in  the  hall  of  my  house,  and  went  to  work  draw 
ing  plans  for  a  new  mill;  these  we  completed  within 
a  week.  I  secured  a  schedule  of  the  machinery  re 
quired,  and  of  the  timber  needed  for  the  frame,  which 
I  bought  at  Ferry  Pass.  I  then  engaged  three  mill 
wrights  who  had  been  recommended  to  me  as  thoroughly 
competent,  and  in  ten  days  after  arriving  home  I 
started  north  to  buy  machinery.  In  after  years  I  think 
Mr.  Neacy  sold  as  many  as  a  score  of  mills,  modeled 
after  the  plan  of  this  one. 

On  the  way  back  to  Escambia  my  wife  accompanied 
me  and  we  reached  home  after  dark.  In  the  morning 
I  arose  and  before  breakfast  went  down  to  the  mill  site 
to  see  how  everything  was  going.  Timber  was  spread 

199 


200  REMINISCENCES 

all  over  the  mill  yard,  being  framed.  I  had  stepped 
over  no  more  than  two  or  three  pieces  of  timber  before 
I  began  to  swear.  I  saw  that  my  head  man  had  made 
serious  mistakes  in  framing  and  did  not  understand  his 
business;  that  I  must  take  charge  of  matters  myself, 
and  so  I  informed  him.  After  a  few  days'  observation  of 
his  work  I  discharged  him  altogether.  I  took  the  scratch- 
awl  and  square  into  my  own  hands  and  laid  out  the 
frame.  My  son  took  a  gang  of  men  and  raised  the 
mill  frame  into  position.  Some  two  or  three  weeks  after 
I  had  discharged  my  boss  millwright  he  appeared  at 
the  mill  and  told  me  that  a  mistake  had  been  made  in 
his  settlement.  I  told  him  to  go  to  the  office  and  that 
any  mistake  would  be  corrected;  he  replied  that  they 
would  not  correct  it  there.  He  said  that  he  had  for 
gotten  to  charge  me  with  three  days'  time  in  coming 
down  from  Michigan.  He  added:  "If  you  don't  pay 
me  for  that  I  will  sue  you."  I  rejoined :  "If  this  is  all 
the  business  you  have  here,  get  out  quick."  He  got, 
and  I  never  saw  the  man  again. 

I  built  the  mill  with  only  one  competent  millwright 
to  assist  me.  About  the  last  of  March  I  had  the  ma 
chinery  all  placed  and  expected  to  start  it  inside  of  a 
week,  when  I  received  a  telegram  from  Oshkosh  an 
nouncing  the  death  of  Mr.  Hubbard,  my  father-in-law. 
This  made  it  necessary  that  my  wife,  my  son,  and 
myself  should  go  north  immediately  to  attend  the 
funeral,  therefore  I  was  unable  to  see  the  starting  of 
the  mill.  I  had  always  prided  myself  that  when  I 
built  a  mill,  the  machinery  would  start  off  the  first 
day  without  a  hitch  or  a  change  in  it.  When  I  re 
turned,  this  mill  had  been  in  operation  for  several 
days,  and  it  was  kept  running  almost  constantly  for 


GOVEBNMENT   DEALINGS  201 

twenty  years,  until  I  sold  it  with  my  timber  lands  in 
Florida. 

I  have  before  described  the  co-partnership  I  entered 
into  with  John  McDavid  and  five  of  his  brothers,  in  the 
fall  of  1883,  they  bringing  into  the  company  about 
fifteen  thousand  acres  of  pine  land.  We  had  bought 
five  thousand  acres  of  land  from  Mr.  Hubbard,  with 
the  mill.  During  the  winter  of  1883-4  we  began  build 
ing  our  logging  railroad;  during  the  summer  of  1884 
we  completed  six  miles  of  the  road,  which  was  a  three- 
foot  gauge,  with  twenty-five  pound  steel  rails.  These 
rails  were  little  worn  when  I  sold  out  in  1904.  Up  to 
that  time  I  had  bought  twenty-six  miles  of  rail  and  had 
built  that  number  of  miles  of  road.  In  the  summer  of 
1884  we  bought  our  logs  from  different  cutters,  who 
ran  their  logs  down  the  river  in  rafts.  We  did  not 
supply  the  mill  with  logs  cut  from  our  own  lands. 
The  business  of  building  the  railroad  as  well  as  the 
work  in  the  woods  was  under  the  supervision  of  my 
brother,  LaFayette  Skinner.  His  wife  became  discon 
tented  with  living  in  the  woods,  and  just  before  I 
started  for  Europe,  he  resigned  his  position  and  re 
turned  to  Newaygo,  Michigan.  This  left  the  work  in 
the  care  of  the  McDavid  brothers. 

After  the  mill  burned  we  contracted  with  Brent  Bros, 
to  supply  them  with  logs,  that  we  might  not  be  obliged 
to  shut  down  the  railroad,  and  that  we  might  furnish 
employment  to  the  men  in  the  woods.  We  built  booms 
at  Ferry  Pass  which  would  hold  fifty  thousand  logs  at 
a  time.  I  bought  six  miles  of  railroad  iron  in  1884 
and  six  miles  more  in  1885.  We  had  a  store  at  Chu- 
muckla  on  the  railroad  five  miles  from  the  landing, 
where  we  did  a  trade  of  about  $3,000  per  month.  I 


202  REMINISCENCES 

named  this  place  after  the  springs  of  that  name,  about 
three  miles  away,  which  were  noted  for  their  curative 
qualities,  and  I  now  believe  them  to  be  of  value  in 
that  line.  I  also  built  a  railroad  repair  shop  at  this 
point  creating  an  embryo  village. 

I  was  very  busy  in  1885-6  sawing  lumber  and  ship 
ping  to  Mr.  Schreyer  in  Europe,  so  busy  that  I  could 
give  little  attention  to  the  logging  department  which, 
was  left  mostly  to  the  management  of  the  McDavid 
brothers,  five  of  whom  were  in  the  employ  of  the  firm. 
I  attended  to  the  running  of  the  mill,  to  supplying 
the  stores  at  Escambia  and  Chumuckla,  to  the  charter 
ing  of  the  vessels  and  their  loading,  that  season  there 
being  twenty-five  in  number.  I  also  attended  to  the 
management  of  the  tug,  which  towed  the  logs  from 
boom  to  mill,  and  to  the  lighters,  which  took  the  lumber 
from  the  mill  to  the  vessels.  I  had  to  keep  a  close 
oversight  of  Mr.  Schreyer  in  Europe,  controlling  the 
price  of  lumber  and  timber  and  the  amount  of  these 
products  which  I  could  permit  him  to  sell.  As  he 
worked  on  commission,  he  was  inclined  to  sell  more 
than  I  could  allow  him,  his  profits  being  thus  propor 
tionately  larger.  I  managed  all  these  affairs  myself  and 
kept  no  extra  help  in  the  office.  I  remember  that  in 
my  younger  days  I  had  wished  for  all  the  business  to 
which  I  could  attend.  During  this  period  and  the  years 
to  follow  my  wish  in  this  respect  was  fully  gratified. 

My  health  was  not  good  at  this  time.  I  was  troubled 
with  insomnia,  also  with  indigestion  and  headaches, 
which  condition  continued  for  ten  years  or  more.  The 
headaches  were  very  painful,  usually  lasting  for  two 
days  or  more,  and  on  recovering  I  would  feel  as  if  I 
had  hrd  ,1  long  fit  of  sickness.  At  the  present  time, 


GOVEKNMENT    DEALINGS  203 

with  added  knowledge,  I  attribute  these  disorders  to 
indiscretion  and  over-indulgence  in  eating.  In  our 
youthful  days  we  are  taught  almost  everything  that  may 
be  useful  to  us  in  after  years,  except  the  one  most  im 
portant  thing  of  all;  how  we  may  have  good  health. 
This  means  to  partake  of  proper  food  and  eat  only 
what  our  bodies  require.  If  we  are  sick  our  friends 
urge  us  to  eat,  when  our  ills  have  been  caused  by  over 
eating,  and  our  stomachs  are  protesting  against  the  ex 
cess  of  food.  I  remember  reading  when  a  boy  a  book 
by  a  Dr.  Hall  in  which  he  gave  this  truism :  Most  men 
make  angels  of  themselves  through  their  stomachs.  At 
the  time  of  reading  I  did  not  catch  on  to  the  full  mean 
ing  of  this.  We  eat  until  we  are  full  and  then  eat  more. 
We  do  not  have  the  consideration  for  our  stomachs 
which  the  ancient  Roman  gourmand  showed,  who  re 
lieved  it  after  a  repast  by  an  emetic.  We  take  too 
little  exercise,  physically,  to  make  our  digestion  good, 
so  we  suffer  the  consequences. 

In  1886  one  of  the  McDavids  had  a  quarrel  with  an 
employee,  and  the  latter  in  revenge  reported  our  firm 
to  the  U.  S.  government  as  cutting  timber  on  govern 
ment  lands.  I  looked  into  the  matter  and  found  that 
it  was  true,  so  I  insisted  that  this  be  stopped  at  once. 
Not  long  afterwards  the  government  sent  a  land  agent 
to  investigate  the  trespass.  There  was  considerable  gov 
ernment  land  on  the  line  of  our  road  that  had  been 
trespassed  upon  for  many  years  before  we  built  the 
railroad.  The  agent  ran  the  line  separating  our  lands 
from  the  others,  and  attributed  all  the  trespasses  visi 
ble,  to  our  firm.  He  began  suit  against  us  for  a  large 
sum  of  money,  and  when  the  U.  S.  court  convened  the 
grand  jury  indicted  several  of  the  McDavids.  I  was  in- 


204  REMINISCENCES 

formed  that  I  too,  had  been  indicted.  I  supposed  that 
this  was  true  until  some  three  years  later  when  I  was 
told  bj  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  corroborated 
by  another  member,  that  this  was  not  so ;  that  my  name 
had  not  been  mentioned  before  the  grand  jury.  I 
realized  myself  to  be  entirely  innocent,  knowing  that 
I  had  always  been  careful  to  infringe  on  no  man's 
rights,  yet  there  stood  filed  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of 
the  court  an  indictment  against  my  name,  with  the  sig 
nature  of  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  on  the  back  of 
it.  I  could  only  conclude  that  this  had  been  ao- 
complished  by  the  district  attorney  who  desired  to  in 
jure  me  politically.  Mr.  S.  C.  Cobb,  the  foreman  of  the 
jury,  assured  me  most  positively  that  he  had  never  seen 
the  indictment  against  me  and  that  he  had  never  en 
dorsed  such.  I  can  only  account  for  this  document 
being  in  existence  by  the  fact  of  the  district  attorney's 
knowledge  that  I  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Skinner 
&  McDavid  and  expecting  to  indict  all  the  members  of 
that  firm  he  had  prepared  an  indictment  to  be  ready 
when  needed.  After  finding  that  there  was  no  evidence 
incriminating  me,  he  failed  to  destroy  the  paper,  but 
kept  it  among  documents  of  a  similar  character,  and 
probably  Mr.  Cobb,  as  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  had 
endorsed  the  paper,  not  knowing  what  it  contained. 
When  the  cases  at  that  term  of  court  were  called,  the 
district  attorney  announced  that  he  had  no  evidence  to 
support  the  charge  against  me,  the  judge  instructed 
the  jury  which  had  been  impaneled  in  my  case,  to  find 
for  the  defendant  without  leaving  their  seats;  which 
they  did.  This  ended  the  criminal  suit.  The  district 
attorney  brought  action  against  Skinner  &  McDavid, 
which  remained  on  the  docket  of  the  court  for  some 


GOVERNMENT    DEALINGS  205 

four  years;  the  outcome  of  which  will  be  referred  to 
later. 

In  1884  I  was  notified  of  a  meeting  of  Republican 
politicians  to  be  held  at  the  office  of  the  collector  of 
the  port  of  Pensacola.  I  attended  the  meeting,  wish 
ing  to  learn  what  was  to  be  discussed,  and  found  that 
it  was  called  with  the  purpose  of  inducing  me  to  again 
run  for  Congress.  I  informed  those  present  that  I  did 
not  aspire  to  another  nomination,  that  I  was  un 
willing  to  make  the  canvass  again;  that  I  was  no  hog, 
so  knew  when  I  had  had  enough.  My  response  seemed 
to  amuse  those  present,  ,and  I  was  asked  if  there  was 
anything  else  in  the  political  line,  which  I  would  ac 
cept;  to  this  I  replied  that  if  the  sentiments  of  the 
meeting  were  unanimous  in  favor  of  sending  me  as  a 
delegate  at  large  to  the  forthcoming  Republican  conven 
tion  at  Chicago,  it  was  an  honor  that  I  would  appreci 
ate  and  most  willingly  accept.  I  stated  farther  that 
I  would  enter  into  no  contest  for  the  privilege,  if  any 
one  present  wished  to  be  that  delegate,  I  would  step 
aside.  Apparently  all  were  enthusiastic  that  I  should 
be  accorded  this  honor. 

The  state  convention  for  the  election  of  delegates  to 
the  Chicago  convention  was  to  be  held  at  St.  Augustine ; 
there  were  to  be  elected  four  delegates  for  the  state  at 
large,  and  two  for  each  of  the  two  Congressional  dis 
tricts  of  the  state.  A  few  weeks  before  the  state  con 
vention  was  to  be  held,  the  county  convention  was  to 
occur  at  Pensacola,  and  would  elect  some  thirteen  dele 
gates  to  be  sent  to  the  state  convention.  An  Irish 
lawyer,  by  the  name  of  Eagan,  appeared  on  the  scene 
at  this  time.  He  had  been  trained  in  Republican  poli 
tics  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state;  he  was  pretty 


206  REMINISCENCES 

well  acquainted  with  Republican  politicians  through 
out  the  state  and  enjoyed  their  confidence.  I  had  been 
instrumental,  sometime  before,  in  his  appointment  as 
postmaster  at  Pensacola,  but  he  had  been  removed  by 
President  Cleveland  shortly  after  the  election  of  the 
latter.  Eagan  had  then  taken  up  the  practice  of  law, 
but  now  held  under  his  brother,  a  deputyship  as  internal 
revenue  collector.  Meeting  Eagan  one  day,  he  informed 
me  that  Col.  Tarble  was  ambitious  to  go  himself  as 
delegate  to  the  convention.  I  could  hardly  credit  this 
after  what  had  occurred  in  this  gentleman's  presence 
and  that  he  had  cordially  approved  my  name.  I  went 
to  his  office  and  said  to  him:  "Eagan  says  you  wish 
to  go  yourself  to  the  Chicago  convention."  He  replied 
that  there  was  no  truth  in  this  statement.  I  assured 
the  colonel  that  if  he  wanted  to  go  that  I  would  will 
ingly  withdraw  and  give  him  an  open  field.  He  con 
vinced  me  that  he  wished  me  to  go,  but  the  friction 
between  the  Eagan  faction  and  the  Tarble  faction,  most 
unaccountably  to  me,  was  kept  up.  About  half  the 
delegates  to  the  Pensacola  convention  seceded  and 
formed  another,  each  electing  delegates  to  the  state  con 
vention  at  St.  Augustine;  I  was  included  in  both.  I 
went  to  St.  Augustine  with  the  Tarble  delegation, 
although  Eagan  persistently  asserted  that  Tarble  wished 
to  become  delegate  to  Chicago.  On  our  way  to  St. 
Augustine  we  stopped  over  a  day  at  Jacksonville.  While 
there  an  old  acquaintance  in  whom  I  had  thorough 
confidence  approached  me  and  asked  whom  we  were  to 
send  to  Chicago  from  our  part  of  the  state;  I  being 
modest  replied  that  I  did  not  know.  He  said  that  Tarble 
wanted  to  go ;  I  said  that  I  thought  not.  "Yes  he  does," 
said  he,  and  added,  "I  met  him  a  little  while  ago  and 


GOVERNMENT    DEALINGS  207 

he  tried  to  make  a  combination  with  me  to  send  him 
there."  This  convinced  me  of  Col.  Tarble's  double- 
dealing.  I  think  now  that  Eagan  sent  this  man  to  me 
to  convince  me  of  Tarble's  treachery.  I  told  Tarble 
that  I  would  not  go  to  Chicago  as  a  delegate  and  that 
he  could  not.  The  colonel  denied  the  charge ;  my  violent 
speech  irritated  him  and  we  became  political  enemies ;  a 
condition  which  lasted  for  several  years.  I  prevented 
his  being  appointed  collector  of  the  port  of  Pensacola. 
He  went  into  the  livery  business  in  Chicago,  just  before 
the  Columbian  exposition.  I  have  become  convinced 
since  that  time,  that  the  trouble  between  Tarble  and 
myself  was  caused  by  Eagan,  who  hoped  to  add  to  his 
own  political  strength  by  an  alliance  with  me. 

When  the  St.  Augustine  convention  was  organized, 
through  the  contrivance  of  Eagan,  his  delegation  was 
seated  instead  of  that  of  Col.  Tarble's,  which  was  the 
straight  and  legal  one.  The  day  before,  when  I  had 
become  convinced  of  Col.  Tarble's  double-dealing,  I 
met  Jim  Coombs,  a  man  who  is  now  President  Eoose- 
velt's  "dictator"  in  Florida  politics,  and  asked  him  if 
he  would  like  to  go  as  a  delegate  to  Chicago,  to  which 
he  answered,  "I  would  like  it  the  best  of  anything  in  the 
world."  I  replied:  "Then  I  will  see  that  you  are 
elected."  Later  I  notified  Eagan  that  he  was  not  to 
present  my  name  to  the  convention,  saying  that  I  would 
not  be  a  candidate.  He  expostulated  with  me  but  find 
ing  my  decision  was  final  he  said  that  if  I  would  not 
go  myself,  that  I  must  select  someone  to  represent  my 
name  and  influence  in  the  State.  When  Eagan's  dele 
gation  was  seated  in  the  convention  he  came  again  and 
tried  to  persuade  me,  but  I  told  him  I  had  promised 
Coombs  that  he  should  go,  and  that  I  would  not  go  back 


208  REMINISCENCES 

on  my  word.     So,  much  against  the  wishes  of  Eagan, 
Coombs  was  elected. 

This  convention  was  composed  of  about  two-thirds 
negroes ;  it  was  noisy,  tempestuous  and  disagreeable.  I 
could  see  no  good  reason  why  a  respectable  white  man 
should  associate  with  darkies  in  such  a  bear  garden  as 
this  convention  proved,  and  I  resolved  then  and  there  to 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  politics  in  which  the 
negro  was  the  dominant  factor. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

ME.    SCHREYER  AND  OTHER  TRIBULATIONS. 

My  business  with  Julius  Schreyer,  for  the  first  two 
years,  had  been  very  satisfactory  and  profitable.  Our 
lumber  had  been  acceptable  and  was  sold  at  good  prices. 
Schreyer  had  shown  some  impatience  at  my  restricting 
him  in  the  amount  he  might  sell,  so  I  found  it  necessary 
to  get  another  inspector  for  the  lumber  which  I  bought 
for  him  at  other  mills.  I  selected  a  young  man  in  my 
employ  whom  I  believed  to  be  both  competent  and 
honest.  My  first  inspector  prophesied  that  he  would 
prove  incompetent,  but  I  thought  him  prejudiced  by 
rivalry  over  a  girl  in  the  neighborhood.  The  young 
man  inspected  half  a  dozen  cargoes  that  I  bought  at 
other  mills,  but  were  all  bought  from  one  firm.  Their 
total  valuation  exceeded  $50,000.  As  reported  by  Mr. 
Schreyer,  lumber  below  grade  was  put  in  every  vessel. 
I  sent  my  son  to  Germany  to  investigate,  as  I  could  not 
believe  that  this  inspector  had  proved  as  negligent  or 
criminal  as  the  reports  showed,  but  he  corroborated  the 
statements  made  by  Mr.  Schreyer.  I  called  the  young 
man  into  the  office  and  asked  him  why  he  had  been  so 
careless  in  inspecting  the  cargoes,  and  he  had  the 
audacity  to  tell  me  that  my  son  had  told  him  to  do  this. 
I  knew  the  assertion  was  unqualifiedly  false  and  I  told 
him  that  he  was  a  liar;  I  discharged  him  then  and 
there.  One  cargo  of  decking  which  he  had  shipped, 
being  the  worst  of  the  lot  according  to  the  account  of 

209 


210  EEMINISCENCES 

the  stevedore  who  loaded  it,  was  entirely  lost  as  the 
vessel  foundered  at  sea.  I  have  never  been  able  to 
understand  what  caused  this  inspector  to  play  the  part 
of  scoundrel;  whether  he  was  simply  too  negligent  and 
lazy  to  attend  to  his  business,  or  was  bribed  by  the  mill 
manager  from  whom  I  bought  the  lumber.  I  was  in 
formed  that  this  manager  put  him  onto  piles  containing 
two  hundred  thousand  feet,  which  Boyer  had  rejected 
the  year  before  from  prime  shipments,  and  that  this  in 
spector  shipped  them  as  prime  in  these  cargoes. 

Early  in  the  spring  Mr.  Schreyer  came  to  see  me,  and 
said  he  had  been  obliged  to  settle  the  claims  of  the 
buyers,  or  else  go  out  of  the  business  of  selling  lumber 
in  Germany.  I  reimbursed  him  for  all  the  reclama 
tions  he  had  paid,  amounting  to  some  $8,000.  The 
inspector,  who  had  been  responsible  for  this  loss,  was 
not  long  after  killed  by  a  negro  who  struck  him  on  the 
head  with  a  scantling,  during  a  quarrel. 

I  made  a  new  contract  wth  Mr.  Schreyer,  agreeing 
that  Mr.  Boyer  should  inspect  all  the  lumber  shipped 
and  he  agreeing  to  settle  all  reclamations  on  the  cargoes 
at  his  own  cost. 

The  affair  which  occupied  my  attention  after  this, 
was  another  venture  into  the  political  field.  In  the 
summer  of  1888  I  was  solicited  by  Republican  politi 
cians  to  run  for  the  state  senate,  but  I  had  seen  so 
much  of  the  jealousy  existing  between  the  different  fac 
tions  of  the  party  that  I  refused  to  accept  the  nomina 
tion  unless  the  convention  was  unanimous  in  my  sup 
port.  As  a  result  I  received  every  vote  in  the  con 
vention.  There  was  a  majority  of  Republicans  in  the 
county  and  I  felt  confident  that  several  hundred  Demo 
crats  of  this  county  would  also  vote  for  me.  I  therefore 


ME.    SCHKEYEB  211 

entered  upon  the  campaign  with  every  prospect  of  win 
ning.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  County  Commissioners 
to  revise  the  list  of  voters  just  before  election,  and  the 
commissioners,  who  were  appointed  by  the  governor 
were  in  this  instance  all  Democrats.  In  the  revision 
which  they  made  at  this  time  they  erased  from  the  list 
names  of  one  thousand  Republican  voters.  They  re 
fused  to  meet  again  and  replace  the  names  wrongfully 
thrown  out,  so  all  these  voters  were  disqualified.  Al 
though  the  election  was  a  national  as  well  as  state 
election,  yet  there  was  no  method,  so  far  as  we  knew 
by  which  we  could  obtain  justice.  At  the  time  of  the 
election,  even  worse  means  were  resorted  to;  such  as 
violating  the  ballot-box,  etc.  In  one  precinct  in  Pen- 
sacola  after  the  voting  had  closed,  a  Democrat  entered 
the  polling  place  wearing  a  large  overcoat.  He  opened 
the  ballot-box,  filled  one  of  the  big  pockets  with  the 
contents,  and  replaced  these  with  Democratic  votes  from 
the  other  pocket. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  and  even  worse,  it  seems 
that  I  was  elected  by  three  hundred  majority,  and  yet 
they  gave  the  certificate  of  election  to  my  Democratic 
competitor.  I  learned  this  fact  from  the  chairman  of 
the  county  commissioners  several  years  later  when  with 
him  in  Mexico.  I  think  this  political  outrage  would  not 
have  been  perpetrated  against  me,  but  that  some  other 
candidates  were  voted  for  on  the  same  ballot,  who  were 
very  obnoxious  to  the  majority  of  the  citizens  of  the 
county,  especially  the  Republican  candidate  who  ran 
for  sheriff.  All  of  the  newspapers  printed  in  the  county 
were  Democratic,  and  I  had  no  means  of  reaching  the 
ears  of  the  voters,  except  by  public  speaking  and  issuing 
of  bulletins  and  circulating  them  through  the  mails.  The 


212  EEMINISCENCES 

United  States  district  attorney  in  Florida  was  a  Demo 
crat  ;  I  consulted  the  U.  S.  district  attorney  for  Louisi 
ana  at  New  Orleans.  He  of  course,  denounced  the  abuse, 
but  gave  it  as  his  judgment  that  nothing  could  be  done, 
so  long  as  a  jury  must  be  selected  from  the  white 
voters,  even  if  the  matter  were  carried  to  the  U.  S. 
court. 

Owing  to  certain  reasons  which  I  will  not  detail,  there 
had  been  no  resident  United  States  judge,  in  the 
northern  judicial  district  of  Florida,  for  nearly  ten 
years.  Many  of  my  friends  solicited  me  to  stand  as  a 
candidate  for  the  judgeship.  I  had  received  a  legal 
education  which  I  believe  well  fitted  me  for  the  office, 
but  I  was  afraid  to  make  the  attempt,  knowing  I  would 
be  attacked  by  the  records  of  the  court  over  which  I 
would  be  expected  to  preside.  Senator  Sawyer,  who 
had  been  a  good  friend  to  me  all  the  years  I  had  been 
in  Florida,  and  who  had  been  familiar  with  my  career 
ever  since  I  had  arrived  in  Oshkosh,  Wis.,  in  1855, 
said  he  thought  he  could  have  me  appointed,  but  I 
feared  the  attack  which  would  be  made  upon  me  when 
the  senate  should  be  asked  to  confirm  my  appointment. 
At  that  time  I  supposed  that  I  had  been  indicted  in 
that  court  for  cutting  timber  on  government  lands,  and 
I  knew  that  a  suit  was  then  pending  against  my  firm 
for  trespass  on  government  lands,  which  could  not  truth 
fully  be  denied,  although  I  knew  myself  to  be  inno 
cent  and  blameless.  I  felt  that  the  office  of  judge  was 
the  most  honorable  position  with  which  a  citizen  could 
be  invested,  and  it  was  the  one  which  I  would  prize 
above  all  others.  The  matter  dragged  along  until  the 
next  year,  when  I  happened  to  be  in  Washington  on 
some  business  and  by  chance  met  ex-Senator  Conover, 


MR.    SCHREYER  213 

who  had  been  my  political  assistant  in  the  canvass  for 
Congress  in  1882.  The  filling  of  this  judgeship  had 
been  a  familiar  topic  among  politicians  and  lawyers  in 
Florida  for  a  long  time.  Mr.  Conover  informed  me  that 
he  had  a  man  whom  he  would  like  to  have  appointed 
district  judge,  and  asked  if  I  would  go  with  him  and 
call  upon  Attorney  General  Miller  and  try  to  have  him 
appoint  this  man.  I  consented  to  do  as  he  wished  after 
his  assurances  that  the  man  was  a  suitable  candidate 
for  the  position.  In  the  afternoon  we  went  and  saw 
Mr.  Miller  and  had  an  interview  lasting  some  three 
hours.  He  questioned  us  very  thoroughly  as  to  the 
political  conditions  in  Florida,  and  we  explained  as  we 
understood  the  situation.  One  point  which  we  made 
especially  strong  was  that  the  violators  of  the  ballot-box 
should  be  punished.  I  recall  very  distinctly  a  question 
which  the  attorney  general  asked  Mr.  Conover,  which 
was:  "Does  the  man  look  like  a  judge?  I  want  a 
man  to  look  a  judge  as  well  as  to  be  one."  Mr.  Conover 
satisfied  him  on  this  point.  When  we  arose  to  leave, 
the  attorney  general  said:  "Gentlemen,  I  will  appoint 
your  man;  you  will  see  this  confirmed  in  tomorrow 
morning's  paper."  The  announcement  appeared  as  he 
said  it  would.  The  history  of  this  man  as  judge  is  not 
a  part  of  my  memoirs ;  I  shall  allude  to  him  only  as  his 
career  affected  mine. 

Returning  to  my  affairs  in  the  lumber  business.  I 
met  farther  difficulty  with  Mr.  Schreyer.  Notwithstand 
ing  my  contract  with  this  gentleman  that  I  should  not 
be  held  responsible  for  any  reclamations  of  lumber  in 
spected  by  Mr.  Boyer,  a  heavy  reclamation  was  de 
manded  on  a  cargo  shipped  to  Italy.  Mr.  Schreyer  was 
himself  responsible  for  the  difficulty  as  he  sent  a  ship 


214  REMINISCENCES 

for  the  lumber  without  giving  it  time  to  dry ;  some  of  it 
had  also  been  rained  on,  when  being  loaded  and  as 
southern  pine  will  do  when  shipped  wet,  I  presume  the 
sap  on  the  lumber  turned  dark  and  mouldy.  I  did  not 
consider  myself  responsible  in  the  matter,  and  refused 
to  pay  any  reclamation.  In  the  spring  of  1889  I  had 
a  ship  offered  me  of  the  capacity  of  a  cargo  which  I 
had  sold  to  Schreyer,  and  I  chartered  the  vessel  on  his 
account  and  with  his  consent.  Not  long  after  I  received 
a  charter  party  for  a  vessel  which,  unknown  to  me, 
he  had  chartered  for  this  same  cargo,  he  having  failed 
to  notify  me  as  he  should  have  done.  I  wrote  him  that 
I  could  not  furnish  the  lumber  in  sufficient  quantities 
to  make  the  second  consignment  unless  he  would  take 
two  hundred  thousand  feet  of  kiln  dried  saps,  which  I 
would  furnish  at  the  price  of  $10  per  thousand  feet. 
I  think  at  that  date  no  kiln  dried  saps  had  been 
shipped  to  the  continent.  He  accepted  the  offer  and  I 
loaded  the  vessel,  which  proved  to  be  the  last  I  ever 
loaded  for  him.  The  other  part  of  the  cargo  consisted 
of  two  orders.  He  had  sold  one  of  prime  lumber,  an 
other  of  heart-faced  flooring.  For  the  order  of  kiln 
dried  saps  he  had  stipulated  that  I  should  draw  upon 
him  at  ninety  days.  When  the  vessel  was  loaded  I  went 
to  the  bank  with  the  documents.  The  cashier  requested 
me  to  place  the  drafts  upon  the  bills  of  lading  for 
which  they  were  drawn.  I  did  so  and  left  the  papers 
with  him. 

I  went  north  with  my  wife  after  this  as  it  was  our 
custom  to  pass  the  heated  term  there  and  obtain  rest  and 
recreation.  I  had  been  north  but  a  short  time  when  I 
received  a  telegram  from  my  son  saying  that  Schreyer 
had  refused  to  pay  the  draft.  I  wired  the  bank  for 


ME.    SCHREYER  215 

information  and  they  wrote  that  they  had  received  no 
such  notification.  I  therefore  rested  easy  for  a  few  days 
until  my  son  sent  me  Mr.  Schreyer's  letter  in  which 
he  said:  "You  have  made  a  mistake,  you  placed  a 
$4,000  draft  on  the  kiln  dried  sajfe  and  a  $2,000  draft 
on  the  two  orders  of  prime  flooring;  you  pay  my  claim 
for  reclamation  or  I  do  not  correct  your  mistake."  He 
refused  to  pay  the  $4,000  draft,  but  paid  the  $2,000 
draft  cash  and  secured  possession  of  the  $4,000  worth 
of  lumber.  I  presume  that  the  cashier  let  the  drafts 
fall  out  in  handling  them,  because  they  were  not  pinned 
to  the  bills  of  lading  as  they  should  have  been.  I  wrote 
the  bank  that  I  should  hold  them  responsible  as  the 
fault  was  theirs  I  having  performed  my  duty  in  the 
matter.  They  ordered  suit  to  be  begun  against  Mr. 
Schreyer  in  Bremen,  and  thus  the  matter  stood  until  I 
returned  to  Florida.  After  studying  the  situation,  I 
concluded  that  I  would  go  to  Germany  and  assist  the 
bank  in  getting  their  money  from  Mr.  Schreyer. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

* 

A  BUSINESS  TRIP  TO  EUROPE. 

I  took  the  steamer  from  New  York  to  Southampton 
and  from  there  went  to  London.  My  object  in  coining 
to  the  metropolis  was  to  find  another  agent  to  sell  my 
lumber.  After  a  little  while  I  selected  Messrs.  Shad- 
bolt  &  Sons,  of  London.  I  then  decided  to  go  over  to 
Germany  and  see  Mr.  Schreyer.  I  took  steamer  to 
Rotterdam  and  went  from  there  to  Bremen  by  rail.  I 
found  Mr.  Schreyer  very  contrary  and  entirely  shame 
less  as  to  his  conduct.  He  appeared  destitute  of  any 
moral  honor.  I  interviewed  the  lawyer  employed  by 
Pensacola  bank,  and  concluded  that  he  was  attorney  for 
the  Bremen  Bank  and  probably  for  Mr.  Schreyer  also. 
I  left  matters  about  as  I  found  them  and  went  back  to 
London. 

On  my  trip  crossing  the  ocean  I  had  made  the  ac 
quaintance  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Pratt.  He  was  at 
the  head  of  an  advertising  agency  in  Chicago.  It  seems 
that  this  firm  advertised  English  productions  in  the 
United  States  for  so  much  per  year,  making  their  own 
contracts  with  the  papers,  and  to  prove  performance  of 
his  part  of  the  bargain,  Mr.  Pratt  brought  copies  of  the 
issue  of  each  paper  to  the  advertisers  in  London. 

I  wanted  to  see  something  of  Scotland  and  England  in 
a  sight  seeing  trip.  Mr.  Pratt  was  somewhat  posted  and 
we  planned  to  take  the  trip  together,  going  up  through 
the  trossachs  of  Scotland,  coming  back  on  the  west  coast 

216 


A   BUSINESS    TRIP    TO    EUROPE  217 

to  Liverpool,  and  from  there  to  London  through  the  lake 
country  of  England. 

Our  trip  from  London  to  Edinburgh  was  very  interest 
ing  and  I  learned  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  what 
"Bonnie  Scotland"  meant  in  English,  for  it  was  surely 
most  beautiful.  The  first  night  we  stopped  at  Melrose 
on  the  bank  of  the  Tweed,  stopping  at  a  friendly  hotel, 
where  we  met  several  American  guests.  In  the  morning 
we  went  to  see  the  ruins  of  the  abbey;  in  fact  it  was 
pretty  much  all  a  ruin,  but  the  carving  of  the  windows 
and  the  doors  was  artistic  and  fine.  We  went  down  to  the 
bridge  and  crossel  the  Tweed.  We  took  a  carriage  and 
drove  to  Abbotsford,  the  home  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  This 
place  was  in  a  good  state  of  preservation.  There  were  dis 
played  here  many  fine  art  exhibits  which  the  author  had 
accumulated  in  his  life,  and  his  fine  library  was  intact. 
We  were  shown  several  groves  on  the  hill  side,  the  trees 
of  which  were  said  to  have  been  planted  by  Sir  Walter 
to  represent  the  positions  of  the  English,  French  and 
German  armies  at  the  battle  of  Waterloo.  We  found  the 
rest  of  the  country  also  very  interesting  and  replete  with 
the  historic  conflicts  between  the  English  and  the  Scotch. 

We  took  the  train  from  Melrose  to  Edinburgh,  where 
we  put  up  at  the  Princess  Hotel.  We  visited  Holyrood 
and  Edinburgh  Castle  where  we  were  shown  the  little 
room,  in  which  it  is  claimed  that  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots 
was  imprisoned.  In  the  middle  ages  this  castle  must 
have  been  very  difficult  for  the  attacking  party  to  storm, 
with  the  means  of  warfare  then  known.  Three  sides  of 
the  fortress  were  protected  by  almost  perpendicular  rock, 
the  other  side  had  formidable  stone  defenses,  as  well  as 
being  very  steep.  We  drove  in  a  carriage  to  the  entrance 
of  the  castle,  and  then  walked  through  the  fortifications. 


218  REMINISCENCES 

Later  we  crossed  the  great  bridge  that  spans  the  river 
Forth.  It  had  several  piers  which  I  should  think  were 
a  succession  of  cantilever  bridges  joined  together.  Be 
cause  Mr.  Pratt  was  in  haste,  being  more  devoted  to 
business  than  to  jaunting  about  the  country  sight  seeing, 
we  did  not  take  our  proposed  trip  through  the  trossachs. 
We  went  from  Edinburgh  to  Glasgow  where  I  wished  to 
see  a  Mrs.  Bruce  who  was  mother  of  my  bookkeeper  at 
Escambia,  I  had  promised  him  to  call  upon  her  if  I 
went  to  Scotland.  We  remained  in  Glasgow  over  Sun 
day,  and  Monday  I  went  to  Greenock  to  visit  a  brother 
of  Mr.  Bruce.  He  was  manager  of  the  Clydesdale  Bank. 
I  remained  with  him  all  night  He  took  me  through  a 
shipyard  and  showed  me  an  iron  ship  then  building. 
After  an  interesting  stop  at  Greenock  we  went  to  Liver 
pool.  It  rained  most  of  the  time  we  were  there,  so  we 
did  not  see  much  of  the  city.  I  cannot  remember  the 
name  of  the  hotel  at  which  we  stopped  but  I  do  recall 
that  it  was  finished  in  southern  pine  which  looked  very 
beautiful. 

We  took  the  train  for  Leamington,  in  historical  Eng 
land.  I  saw  so  much  during  the  two  or  three  days  we 
spent  there  that  my  memory  presents  a  picture  like  a 
bird's  eye  view.  In  the  hall  of  the  hotel  where  we  stayed 
was  a  wainscoting  of  tile  which  represented  scenes  and 
characters  in  Shakespeare's  plays.  I  thought  them  very 
fine  and  artistic.  The  city  was  a  summer  resort,  and 
some  medical  springs  were  found  in  the  vicinity.  The 
next  day  we  took  a  carriage  and  visited  the  ruins  of 
Kenilworth  Castle,  where  Amy  Robsart  was  secreted  by 
the  Earl  of  Leicester  and  where  Queen  Elizabeth  acci 
dentally  met  the  heroine  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novel 


A    BUSINESS    TRIP    TO    EUROPE  219 

"Kenilworth"  while  being  entertained  by  the  Earl  at 
this  castle. 

We  did  not  go  to  Stratford  on  Avon  for  some  reason. 
We  visited  the  cliff  in  which  an  old  hermit  had  dug  out 
of  the  solid  rock  a  den  where  he  lived  and  died.  We 
visited  the  residence  of  another  of  the  nobility  of  Eng 
land.  The  grounds  of  this  place  were  very  beautiful. 
The  house  was  elegantly  furnished,  and  on  the  walls 
hung  the  portraits  of  many  of  the  ancestors  of  the 
family. 

We  also  spent  a  day  in  viewing  the  Castle  of  War 
wick.  I  have  heard  it  stated  that  it  was  the  finest  resi 
dence  in  England.  The  family  were  away  but  we 
obtained  permission  to  enter  and  were  shown  through 
the  castle  by  the  custodian.  We  gave  this  man  a  good 
tip  and  he  pointed  out  to  us  all  there  was  of  interest 
A  heavy  stone  wall  surrounds  the  castle  enclosing  as  I 
remember  two  or  three  acres,  surmounted  in  several 
places  by  towers  for  defense.  In  the  center  of  the  space 
encircled  by  the  wall  stands  the  castle.  As  we  passed 
through  the  heavy  iron  gateway,  a  keeper  took  my  com 
panion's  kodak  away  from  him  saying  that  he  could 
not  enter  with  one.  On  each  side  of  this  gateway  were 
lofty  towers,  with  battlements  on  the  top,  where  defend 
ers  could  protect  the  entrance.  These  towers  were  en 
tered  from  within  the  walls  and  were  very  strong.  In 
the  picture  gallery  were  many  portraits  of  the  earls  of 
Warwick  and  their  families.  The  different  rooms  con 
tained  much  elaborate  furniture,  works  of  art,  etc.,  but 
the  banquet  hall  interested  me  more  than  any  thing  else. 
I  recall  its  immense  fireplace  and  the  great  dimensions 
of  the  room.  The  old  earl  of  Warwick  was  reputed  to  be 
a  "king-maker"  and  I  should  judge  that  he  might  have 


220  BEMINISCENCES 

feasted  a  regiment  of  his  retainers  in  this  hall  at  one 
time.  I  also  noticed  one  thing  which  I  think  might 
escape  most  observers:  the  ceiling  of  the  room  was  of 
southern  pine  and  not  of  English  oak,  as  it  probably  had 
been  in  medieval  times.  I  expressed  surprise  at  this 
and  was  informed  that  the  ancient  wall  had  been  injured 
by  fire,  and  that  the  oak  had  been  replaced  by  southern 
pine,  which  was  in  natural  color  and  oiled.  In  the  vil 
lage  near  the  castle  was  a  building  in  which  Shakes 
peare  had  been  in  some  way  identified. 

The  lake  district  in  England  is  very  beautiful  and  I 
think  is  known  as  the  Heart  of  England.  I  believe  the 
Thames  river  rises  in  this  region.  On  our  way  to  Lon 
don  the  train  passes  through  Oxford  and  we  obtained  a 
bird's  eye  view  of  some  of  the  College  buildings.  I  re 
turned  to  London  very  much  pleased  with  my  trip,  but 
greatly  regretting  that  I  did  not  have  more  time  for  sight 
seeing,  there  being  so  much  of  interest. 

Arriving  at  London  I  went  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
on  High  Holborn  Street.  On  the  trip  across  the  Atlantic, 
I  had  made  steamer  acquaintance  with  two  gentlemen, 
one  of  them  named  Cushman,  the  name  of  the  other 
I  do  not  recall.  Mr.  Cushman  was  the  inventor  of 
the  tubular  railroad  car  frame.  About  that  time  and 
later,  I  saw  in  the  United  States  a  similar  freight  car, 
the  frame  of  which  was  made  of  different  sizes  of  gas 
pipe ;  the  frame  was  supported  on  car  wheels  and  on  top 
of  this  was  placed  a  box  car.  This  was  claimed  to  be 
much  lighter  than  a  frame  made  of  wood.  The  second 
gentleman,  whose  name  I  have  forgotten  was  at  the  head 
of  a  large  stock  company  making  these  freight  cars  for 
the  purpose  of  renting  or  selling  them  to  the  railroads. 
The  purpose  of  these  gentlemen  in  going  to  England  was 


A    BUSINESS    TRIP    TO    EUROPE  221 

to  introduce  the  use  of  these  ears  upon  the  English  rail 
ways.  They  had  acquired  a  mass  of  valuable  informa 
tion  to  be  used  in  their  arguments  in  favor  of  their 
introduction.  As  nearly  as  I  can  recollect,  their  car 
only  weighed  ten  tons  and  would  carry  thirty  tons  of 
freight.  It  cost  more  to  carry  a  bushel  of  wheat  from 
Liverpool  to  London,  in  an  English  car  than  it  would  to 
carry  it  from  Chicago  to  Liverpool.  This  great  differ 
ence  in  the  expense  of  shipping  they  attributed  to  the 
weight  of  the  English  car,  and  the  small  amount  of 
freight  it  would  carry.  The  English  car  frame  was  built 
of  10x10  inch  square  southern  pine  timbers,  from  twelve 
to  twenty  feet  long,  with  a  little  box  on  top  of  it  not  over 
four  feet  high,  uncovered  except  by  canvass.  The  pro 
moters  claimed  that  this  car  would  weigh  more  than  the 
freight;  that  with  their  car  a  locomotive  hauling  four 
tons  would  be  hauling  three  of  freight,  whereas  with 
the  English  car  the  freight  would  be  less  than  two  tons. 
They  said  that  they  had  shipped  six  flat  cars  by  steamer 
to  London,  and  on  their  arrival  they  would  set  them  up 
and  give  the  English  railway  officials  a  demonstration 
of  the  superiority  of  their  cars  over  those  in  use.  When 
we  reached  our  destination  these  gentlemen  went  to  the 
Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  and  I  to  the  Lincoln's  Inn  Hotel. 
I  spent  a  couple  of  weeks  in  London  corresponding  with 
Mr.  Schreyer,  and  busied  myself  during  that  time  in 
becoming  acquainted  with  London  and  its  environments. 
One  Sunday  morning  I  visited  St.  Paul's  Cathedral 
which  was  not  far  from  my  hotel.  While  admiring  the 
structure  I  observed  an  omnibus  labeled  Hampton  Court, 
and  thinking  of  nothing  better  to  do  I  climbed  aboard. 
I  entered  into  conversation  with  my  neighbor  on  the 
seat.  He  told  me  that  he  was  from  South  Carolina,  that 


222  REMINISCENCES 

his  father  had  kept  a  hotel  on  Jeckel  Island,  and  that  he 
himself  was  interested  in  some  theatrical  troupe.  I 
judged  from  what  he  said  that  he  had  become  stranded 
in  London,  but  at  all  events  he  proved  an  agreeable  com 
panion.  I  found  Hampton  Court  and  vicinity  quite  an 
interesting  spot  to  visit.  As  I  recollect,  it  was  built  by 
Cardinal  Wolsey  and  presented  by  him  to  Henry  VIII. 
I  believe  it  is  in  possession  of  the  crown  of  England,  and 
is  used  chiefly  as  an  art  gallery.  In  it  are  to  be  seen 
portraits  of  most  of  those  famous  in  the  history  of  that 
country.  I  should  judge  that  in  size  it  would  equal 
the  Field  Museum  in  Chicago.  In  some  rooms  around 
the  court  resided  many  proteges  of  the  Queen,  it  being 
her  privilege  to  domicile  a  certain  number  of  ladies  who 
happened  to  possess  her  favor,  but  were  in  impecunious 
circumstances.  Hampton  Court  is  a  place  of  great 
resort  for  people  coming  from  London  by  bus,  boat  or 
train.  Adjacent  to  the  Court  is  a  maze  of  shrubbery 
which  few  can  enter  and  find  their  way  out,  without 
aid  from  the  guide.  I  did  not  try  my  skill.  In  the 
yard  is  a  grapevine  which  is  more  than  a  foot  in  diame 
ter,  when  measured  at  the  ground.  It  is  said  to  raise 
grapes  in  sufficient  abundance  to  supply  the  proteges  of 
the  Court  ensconced  there. 

I  visited  Hampton  Court  later,  but  being  without 
agreeable  companionship  I  found  the  charm  of  the  castle 
less  potent. 

I  spent  three  weeks  of  this  visit  in  the  seeing  of 
sights  in  London.  Among  the  notable  buildings  which 
I  visited  was  the  Tower  of  London.  I  think  no  one 
museum  which  I  saw,  presents  so  much  of  England's 
history  as  does  this  tower,  and  every  American  visiting 
London  should  spend  a  day  in  its  study. 


A    BUSINESS    TKIP    TO    EUROPE  223 

Mr.  Cushman  invited  me  to  go  down  with  them  and 
witness  the  test  of  the  tubular  car.  Three  Englishmen 
had  been  selected  by  the  railroads  to  give  the  cars  a  trial 
and  make  a  report.  One  of  these  judges  was  a  member 
of  parliament,  another  was  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  and  the  third  represented  the  combined  railroads 
of  England.  The  trial  was  to  be  held  on  the  Mill-wall 
docks  of  London.  The  docks  were  traversed  by  rails, 
the  tracks  being  full  of  short  curves  and  switches,  which 
would  give  the  cars  a  severe  test  as  to  their  ability  to 
keep  the  track. 

Our  party  took  the  train  at  London  for  the  Docks, 
which  were  located  some  distance  down  the  Thames.  On 
arriving  we  had  to  wait  some  time  for  the  distinguished 
experts.  I  asked  Mr.  Cushman  not  to  introduce  me  to 
these  gentlemen,  as  I  wished  to  view  the  exhibition  from 
the  standpoint  of  an  on-looker.  The  cars  were  flat 
bottomed  railway  cars  with  plank  sides  and  ends  about 
two  feet  high.  A  locomotive  was  coupled  to  the  cars  and 
we  got  aboard,  all  standing.  As  we  were  hauled  over 
the  rails  and  through  the  curves  and  switches  I  heard  one 
Englishman  remark  to  the  others  "These  bloody  cars  do 
stick  to  the  track;  I  was  sure  they  wouldn't  take  the 
curves."  After  a  sufficient  trial  of  this  test  the  engineer 
was  told  to  shunt  the  cars  off  the  track.  The  locomotive 
shoved  us  pretty  hard  and  I  heard  one  Britisher  say  to 
another,  "They  tell  me  these  bogies  are  an  English  inven 
tion."  "Well"  was  the  reply,  "that  is  one  thing  in  their 
favor."  (Bogie  is  an  English  word  for  an  American 
Railroad  Truck. )  The  Englishmen  became  satisfied 
that  they  could  not  get  the  cars  off  the  track  when  they 
were  empty  so  they  told  the  exhibitors  that  they  wanted 
the  cars  heavily  loaded.  By  this  time  it  was  twelve 


224  REMINISCENCES 

o'clock,  and  as  no  dock  laborer  would  work  for  love  or 
money  until  the  customary  time  to  return,  a  delay  in  the 
proceedings  occurred.  The  Americans  agreed  to  have 
the  cars  loaded  with  railroad  iron  and  be  ready  for  a 
further  exhibition  at  three  in  the  afternoon.  I  was 
assured  in  my  own  mind  that  the  cars  would  not  leave 
the  track,  therefore  after  going  back  to  London  I  did  not 
return  for  the  exhibition  of  the  afternoon.  In  England 
a  railroad  did  not  then  receive  freight  in  a  warehouse, 
load  it  into  a  freight  car  and  deliver  it  at  its  destination 
into  another  warehouse  as  is  done  in  this  country.  The 
shipper  in  England  was  furnished  a  car  at  the  point  of 
shipment,  which  he  loaded,  and  when  it  arrived  at  its 
destination  the  receiver  unloaded  it.  Mr.  Cushman  told 
me  that  he  had  offered  a  certain  railroad  in  England 
fifteen  cars  if  they  would  take  them  and  use  them;  the 
man  representing  the  railroads  had  replied  that  if  they 
should  adopt  the  American  car  it  would  make  all  the 
rolling  stock  of  the  United  Kingdom  worthless;  I  for 
get  the  immense  value  it  would  wipe  out. 

On  my  return  from  the  trip  to  Scotland  I  stopped  at 
the  same  hotel  as  my  American  acquaintances.  They 
informed  me  that  a  certain  Mr.  Spencer,  M.  P.,  had 
invited  them  to  take  luncheon  with  him  at  the  Parlia 
ment  Houses,  and  to  view  a  sitting  of  Parliament  from 
a  gallery  of  the  house.  They  said  they  would  be  allowed 
to  include  me  in  their  invitation,  if  I  would  like  to  go, 
I  gladly  accepted  as  I  thought  it  a  matter  of  much  in 
terest  to  see  the  House  of  Commons  in  session.  We 
reached  the  buildings  about  four  P.  M.  and  spent  some 
time  in  viewing  various  halls.  Some  of  the  gentlemen 
of  the  nobility  were  pointed  out  to  me.  We  went  to  a 
gallery  in  the  House  which  overlooked  the  Thames,  and 


A   BUSINESS    TRIP    TO    EUROPE  225 

were  served  with  refreshments  passing  a  most  pleasant 
hour  in  conversation  and  viewing  the  river  scenes  below. 
When  the  hour  arrived  for  the  opening  of  the  session, 
Mr.  Spencer  escorted  us  to  the  Stranger's  gallery,  where 
we  could  sit  and  watch  the  proceedings  as  long  as  de 
sired. 

The  chamber  in  which  the  House  of  Commons  con 
venes  is  a  long  room  with  a  long  table  in  the  center ;  from 
this  several  rows  of  seats  extended  to  the  wall,  rising  one 
above  the  other  like  those  in  a  theater.  In  these  the 
members  sat  keeping  their  hats  on  their  heads;  a  cus 
tom  which  appeared  strange  to  me.  When  a  member 
desires  to  address  the  house  he  comes  down  from  his  seat 
and  stands  by  the  table.  At  the  opposite  end  of  the  hall 
from  where  we  were,  the  chairman  was  seated  on  a 
raised  platform;  he  wore  the  typical,  long  wig  of  the 
English  judge,  one  could  see  nothing  of  him  but  his  face. 
Lord  Palmerston  at  that  time  was  Speaker;  he  was  son 
of  the  premier  of  that  name.  The  subject  before  the 
house  that  night  was  the  licensing  of  the  saloons  in  the 
kingdom.  The  Ladies'  Gallery  was  directly  in  the  rear 
of  the  Speaker,  there  was  a  screen  before  it  so  we  could 
not  see  the  occupants.  I  was  informed  that  they  could 
see  the  house  plainly,  but  could  not  signal  to  the  mem 
bers  of  the  house.  When  a  division  took  place,  the  mem 
bers  voting  "aye"  passed  by  the  Speaker  to  a  room  in  the 
rear  and  were  counted  as  they  went  out.  When  these 
returned  to  the  hall,  the  ones  voting  "no"  would  file 
past  the  speaker  and  be  counted.  As  I  remember,  it  was 
eight  or  nine  o'clock  before  the  session  began.  We  sat 
in  the  gallery  during  the  proceedings  until  the  "wee 
sma'  hours"  of  the  morning.  At  length  becoming  tired 


226  REMINISCENCES 

we  returned  to  our  hotel,  before  the  house  had  adjourned 
its  session. 

We  visited  the  Westminister  Abbey,  where  are  en 
tombed  so  many  of  the  kings  and  queens  of  England, 
and  many  of  its  notable  men,  who  have  been  chief  actors 
in  her  history.  The  marble  statuary  contained  in  this 
edifice  is  very  fine.  We  Americans  should  remember 
that  this  abbey  holds  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States  as  well  as  of  England. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

FEOM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA. 

Concluding  that  I  could  help  little  in  the  settlement 
of  the  bank's  claim  against  Mr.  Sehreyer,  I  returned  to 
Escambia.  A  few  months  later  the  bank  notified  me 
that  they  had  received  an  offer  from  him  towards  set 
tling  the  claim,  and  inquired  what  I  would  do  about  it, 
I  asked  Mr.  Brent  if  he  wished  to  settle  and  he  said  that 
he  did ;  I  then  offered  to  stand  one-half  the  loss.  A  year 
later,  when  I  was  in  Los  Angeles,  Gal.,  I  received  a  tele 
gram  from  Mr.  Sehreyer  saying  that  if  I  would  resume 
business  with  him  he  would  come  out  there  to  see  me. 
I  wrote  him  in  reply  that  when  I  found  a  man  dis 
honest  I  did  not  care  to  do  any  farther  business  with 
him.  That  to  render  business  satisfactory  and  successful 
it  was  necessary  that  there  should  be  confidence  and 
honor  on  both  sides,  and  I  added  that  I  did  not  wish  to 
take  any  farther  risk  with  him. 

Some  time  prior  to  this  I  had  made  a  personal  effort 
to  organize  the  interests  of  the  lumbermen  so  that  they 
need  not  be  at  the  mercy  and  misrepresentation  of  the 
commission  men,  who  largely  handle  the  lumber  product 
of  the  south.  Knowing  that  our  system  of  inspecting 
lumber  was  defective  in  many  respects,  I  succeeded  in 
perfecting  the  organization  of  the  lumber  manufac 
turers.  We  came  to  conclusions  as  to  the  specifications 
of  grades,  and  adopted  a  form  of  charter  by  which  we 
all  agreed  to  be  bound.  Of  this  organization  I  was 
elected  president. 

227 


228  REMINISCENCES 

In  the  fall  of  1887  the  contracting  stevedores  in  Pen- 
sacola  some  sixty  in  number,  conceived  the  plan  of 
organizing  themselves  into  a  combination  or  association 
by  which  they  would  control  the  loading  of  all  vessels 
which  came  into  the  harbor  for  lumber  cargoes.  In  a 
measure  it  was  the  purpose  of  the  stevedore  organiza 
tion  to  nullify  the  benefits  of  our  new  charter-party. 
The  contest  between  the  two  organizations  became  quite 
bitter  in  Pensacola.  Many  of  the  stevedores  were  not 
actual  residents  of  Pensacola,  but  lived  in  Quebec,  where 
they  plied  their  trade  in  summer  and  came  to  Pensacola 
to  follow  it  in  winter.  Our  new  charter-party  gave  the 
right  of  appointing  the  stevedore  to  the  charterer  of  the 
vessel,  as  had  formerly  been  the  custom.  Many  evils 
had  befallen  the  trade  through  the  disuse  of  this  cus 
tom,  from  which  the  shipper  was  often  the  sufferer. 

Through  the  efforts  of  State  Senator  Mallory  several 
laws  had  been  enacted  by  the  legislature,  which  looked 
as  if  they  had  been  passed  with  the  express  purpose  of 
enabling  the  stevedores  to  control  the  loading  of  vessels 
in  the  harbor  of  Pensacola.  One  was  that  no  person 
should  ply  that  trade  without  a  license,  and  placing  the 
licensing  of  stevedores  in  the  hands  of  three  men,  called 
harbor  commissioners,  who  were  appointed  by  the  gover 
nor.  These  commissioners  assumed  a  great  deal  of 
authority  which  was  not  sanctioned  by  law,  and  they 
were  inclined  to  favor  the  interest  of  the  stevedores.  I 
had  to  contend  against  this  organization  with  even  some 
of  the  members  of  our  own  association,  who  were  dis 
loyal  to  our  interests  and  were  trying  to  make  political 
capital  by  working  in  favor  of  the  stevedores.  This 
contention  lasted  several  months,  then,  owing  to  my 
tenacious  fighting  qualities  we  won  the  victory  over  the 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  229 

other  organization  and  they  gave  up  their  efforts  to 
control  the  loading  of  vessels. 

The  Southern  Lumber  Manufacturers'  Association 
was  organized  in  the  winter  of  1890  at  New  Orleans.  I 
attended  this  convention  and  was  made  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  organization,  and  wrote  the  constitution 
and  hy-laws.  This  association  was  composed  of  lumber 
men  from  all  the  southern  states.  At  this  writing  (1906) 
the  association  had  been  in  existence  sixteen  years  and  it 
has  been  of  much  benefit  to  the  lumbermen  of  that  sec 
tion.  I  remained  a  member  of  it  for  several  years,  but 
finally  I  thought  it  too  timid  in  protecting  the  rights  oi 
its  members;  it  did  not  do  as  it  should  have  done,  so  I 
dropped  out  of  the  association.  In  after  years  they  fol 
lowed  the  methods  which  I  had  so  long  urged. 

After  the  Lumbermen's  convention  had  adjourned  a 
large  excursion  boat  was  loaded  with  members  and  we 
were  taken  down  the  river  to  Governor  Warmouth's 
plantation.  We  were  to  see  the  method  of  raising  sugar 
cane  and  making  it  into  sugar.  This  was  all  new  to  me 
and  I  found  it  both  instructive  and  interesting. 

After  the  adjournment  of  the  convention  my  wife  and 
I  decided  that  we  would  make  a  pleasure  trip  to  Mexico. 
We  went  by  way  of  San  Antonio  and  Laredo  to  Mon 
terey.  The  hotel  accommodations  at  the  latter  place  were 
quite  inferior  to  those  in  the  United  States,  but  the 
town  was  novel  and  we  enjoyed  the  sight  seeing  very 
much.  We  went  to  the  baths  of  Topo  Chico  while  there. 
The  waters  of  these  baths  affected  my  wife  badly,  as 
they  produced  an  inflamation  in  a  sore  on  one  of  her  feet 
caused  by  her  shoe.  We  were  unable  to  purchase  a  shoe 
that  was  suitably  easy,  which  made  it  very  uncomfort 
able  for  her.  We  therefore  completed  our  visit  to  Mon- 


230  REMINISCENCES 

terey  and  went  to  Saltillo,  and  remained  over  night. 
This  place  was  but  a  short  distance  from  Buena  Vista, 
the  battle  field  where  General  Taylor  won  his  famous 
victory  over  General  Santa  Ana.  This  is  a  pleasant 
Mexican  town. 

From  here  we  went  through  a  desert  country  to  San 
Luis  Potosi,  where  we  met  a  party  of  tourists  from  Iowa 
who  were  traveling  in  a  private  car.  The  governor  of 
San  Luis  Potosi  gave  a  reception  which  we  all  attended. 
That  night  I  was  taken  with  a  very  severe  toothache, 
from  which  I  suffered  great  misery.  It  was  a  very  un 
fortunate  occurrence  at  that  time.  I  was  in  a  strange 
country,  knew  nothing  of  the  language,  had  no  remedies, 
and  did  not  know  how  to  procure  any.  In  the  morning 
as  we  started  with  the  Iowa  party  for  the  City  of  Mexico 
one  of  the  ladies  noticing  my  affliction,  gave  me  a  small 
bottle  of  tequila  and  told  me  to  hold  some  of  it  in  my 
mouth.  I  did  this  and  it  stopped  the  pain  almost  in 
stantly.  For  ten  years  after  this  I  kept  constantly  on 
hand  a  bottle  of  this  remedy.  I  used  it  also  as  a  panacea 
for  headaches. 

We  arrived  at  the  City  of  Mexico  and  stopped  at  the 
Jardin  Hotel.  This  building  had  formerly  been  a  con 
vent  but  it  had  been  converted  into  a  resort  for  tourists. 
To  it  belonged  a  very  fine  garden,  from  which  it  took 
its  name.  There  is  no  suitable  sanitation  of  this  city, 
nevertheless  we  found  it  a  pleasant  place  to  visit,  there 
is  so  much  of  novelty  to  interest  the  sight-seer.  Our 
party  made  the  acquaintance  of  Colonel  Foster,  who  was 
an  ex-confederate  soldier,  having  gone  to  Mexico  at  the 
close  of  the  civil  war.  He  had  been  commissioned  a 
colonel  by  President  Diaz  and  was  evidently  well  re* 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  231 

garded  by  him,  having  been  intrusted  with  many  duties 
involving  confidence,  skill  and  discretion. 

This  gentleman  procured  admission  for  our  party  to 
witness  the  reception  by  President  Diaz  and  his  cabinet, 
of  Baron  Ketteler,  newly  appointed  German  Ambassa 
dor  to  Mexico,  which  was  to  be  held  in  the  Ambassadors' 
Hall  of  the  president's  palace.  At  one  end  of  the  hall 
which  was  about  a  hundred  feet  in  length,  there  was  a 
raised  platform,  occupied  by  Diaz  and  his  associates. 
We  were  also  given  positions  here. 

The  baron  entered  the  hall  at  the  end  opposite  the 
dais;  he  was  of  good  stature  and  of  commanding  phy 
sique  and  he  appeared  in  the  most  gorgeous  uniform  I 
had  ever  seen.  The  president  wore  a  handsome  suit, 
the  front  of  his  coat  being  ornamented  with  numerous 
decorations  which  had  been  conferred  upon  him.  He 
sat  among  the  members  of  his  cabinet  who  formed  a 
semi-circle  on  the  dais.  Two  lines  composed  of  colonels 
of  the  Mexican  army,  stood  facing  each  other,  and  ex 
tended  from  the  dais  to  the  door  through  which  the  baron 
entered.  He  advanced  four  steps,  took  off  his  military 
hat  and  made  a  low  bow;  then  he  put  on  his  hat,  ad 
vanced  four  steps  more,  and  went  through  the  same 
ceremony.  When  he  had  accomplished  half  of  the  dis 
tance  President  Diaz  arose  from  his  chair  and  advanced 
to  the  steps.  As  the  baron  reached  the  platform,  the 
president  leaned  over  and  gave  him  his  hand  to  assist 
him  to  the  dais.  A  little  speech  in  Spanish  was  responded 
to  by  the  president,  and  later  he  introduced  the  ambassa 
dor  to  several  members  of  his  cabinet,  and  invited  him  to 
a  seat  near  him.  After  a  few  moments7  conversation  the 
entire  party  retired  to  the  president's  rooms,  adjoining 
the  reception  hall.  These  we  had  visited  the  day  before ; 


232  BEMINISCENCES 

they  had  been  furnished  and  decorated  by  order  of 
Emperor  Maximilian,  and  included  the  most  gorgeous 
draperies  and  fittings  which  I  had  ever  seen.  Baron 
Ketteler  was  afterwards  killed  in  Pekin  when  the  em 
bassies  of  foreign  nations  were  besieged  by  the  "boxers." 

That  afternoon  our  party  was  received  by  President 
Diaz,  an  appointment  having  been  procured  by  Colonel 
Foster.  At  the  request  of  our  party  I  consented  to  act 
as  spokesman,  Colonel  Foster  officiating  as  interpreter. 
This  gentleman  said  he  was  a  cousin  of  Honorable  John 
Foster,  who  had  succeeded  James  G.  Elaine  as  Secre 
tary  of  State  under  President  Harrison. 

I  have  met  Americans  who  claimed  that  President 
Diaz  could  speak  and  understand  the  English  language, 
but  the  gentleman  himself  assured  me  of  his  inability 
to  do  so.  The  parlor  where  we  were  received  was  very 
richly  and  beautifully  furnished.  I  recollect  a  table  of 
solid  silver  which  had  been  presented  to  the  president, 
and  I  remember  his  telling  me  that  General  Grant  had 
sent  him  word  that  he  would  come  to  his  aid  with  one 
hundred  thousand  men,  if  he  needed  to  drive  Maxi 
milian  out  of  Mexico. 

President  Diaz  I  consider  to  be  one  of  the  greatest 
men  of  modern  times.  He  was  born,  raised  and  edu 
cated  in  Oaxaca.  He  studied  law  and  at  one  time  was 
appointed  Chief  Justice  of  the  republic  of  Mexico,  but 
he  became  involved  in  a  revolutionary  movement  and 
had  to  flee  the  country.  During  his  absence  he  was 
tried  by  court  martial  and  sentenced  to  be  shot. 

After  the  interview  I  was  conscious  that  President 
Diaz  must  have  observed  how  very  ignorant  I  was  re 
garding  the  history  of  his  country  and  himself.  He 
recommended  his  native  state,  Oaxaca,  if  I  contem- 


FKOM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  233 

plated  investments  in  Mexico,  saying  that  he  considered 
it  the  richest  of  the  states  in  gold  and  silver,  and  that 
coal  was  also  found  there  in  large  quantities.  He  in 
formed  me  that  his  government  had  granted  a  large 
concession  of  coal  lands  to  an  English  company,  in  the 
state  of  Oaxaca,  and  that  they  were  under  contract  to 
furnish  coal  in  the  City  of  Mexico  at  the  price  of  $11 
per  ton  (Mexican  money). 

Later,  when  I  was  in  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  I 
bought  a  copy  of  the  Overland  Monthly  which  gave  an 
account  of  General  Diaz'  return  to  Mexico.  I  re 
gretted  very  much  that  I  did  not  know  of  this  story 
at  the  time  I  was  able  to  interview  him.  It  seems  that 
although  under  sentence  of  death  he  resolved  to  return 
to  his  native  land  and  lead  another  revolution.  He 
sailed  from  New  York  to  Havana,  where  he  took  passage 
on  an  American  steamer  for  Vera  Cruz  under  the  name 
Dr.  Blank.  He  had  but  just  recovered  from  an  attack 
of  malarial  fever,  and  was  very  weak  when  he  entered 
the  vessel.  As  soon  as  the  steamer  was  well  under  way 
he  took  the  purser  into  his  confidence,  and  implored  him 
to  hide  him  so  that  he  would  not  be  recognized  by  any 
of  the  passengers.  The  purser,  who  was  an  Irish- Amer 
ican,  secreted  him  in  a  little  closet  where  he  could  not 
lie  down,  but  supplied  him  with  food  which  he  had  car 
ried  to  his  stateroom,  ostensibly  for  his  own  use.  It 
seems  that  the  vessel  touched  at  some  point  in  Mexico 
before  landing  at  Vera  Cruz  and  a  company  of  soldiers 
were  put  aboard  at  that  place.  This  added  to  the 
anxiety  of  both  the  purser  and  of  Diaz,  and  when  the 
steamer  arrived  at  Vera  Cruz  he  determined  to  jump 
overboard  and  swim  to  shore.  Attempting  this  he  was 
discovered  and  a  boat  sent  out  from  the  vessel,  which 


234  REMINISCENCES 

picked  him  up  very  weak  and  exhausted.  When  they 
were  bringing  him  up  the  gang  plank  a  lady  saw  and 
recognized  him,  and  knowing  the  peril  he  would  be  in 
if  he  were  seen  by  any  of  the  Mexican  soldiers,  with 
quick  wit  she  threw  her  cloak  over  him.  The  purser 
immediately  returned  him  to  his  stateroom  where  he 
remained  until  another  scheme  could  be  concocted  to 
get  him  to  shore.  A  lot  of  flour  in  barrels  was  being 
unloaded  from  the  steamer  on  to  barges,  and  these 
were  unloaded  at  the  dock.  Diaz  managed  to  com 
municate  with  some  of  his  trusted  friends  in  the  city 
and  inform  them  of  his  precarious  position.  The 
purser  procured  some  laborer's  clothes,  which  Diaz  put 
on  and  so  disguised  himself  that  his  own  wife  would 
not  have  recognized  him,  and  going  down  to  the  lower 
deck  among  the  stevedores,  he  went  to  work  as  one  of 
them,  rolling  flour  on  to  the  barge.  When  it  was  loaded 
he  remained  on  the  barge  while  it  crossed  to  the  dock, 
from  where  he  managed  with  the  aid  of  his  friends  to 
escape  to  his  native  city  Oaxaca,  he  and  associates  then 
starting  an  insurrection  against  the  existing  government. 
The  president  at  this  time  was,  I  think,  named  Gon 
zalez;  he  had  succeeded  to  the  office  on  the  death  of 
Benito  Juarez,  known  as  the  George  Washington  of 
Mexico. 

At  the  time  of  Diaz'  return,  the  misnamed  republic 
was  in  a  state  of  anarchy.  For  some  fifty  years  revo 
lution  after  revolution  had  reduced  the  country  to  a 
chaotic  condition,  where  the  citizens  engaged  in  peace 
ful  pursuits,  such  as  farming  and  mining,  were  obliged 
to  maintain  forts  and  keep  armed  retainers,  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  outlaws.  Elections  were  of  course 
a  farce,  and  always  have  been  there.  Communication 


FBOM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  235 

between  the  different  states  of  the  republic,  owing  to 
the  bad  roads,  was  difficult  and  expensive.  The  gov 
ernor  of  a  distant  state  who  was  ambitious  to  become 
president  would  start  a  revolution  in  his  own  state, 
against  the  national  government  and  march  with  his 
army  to  the  capital,  overpower  the  authorities  and  pro 
claim  himself  president,  then  busy  himself  with  any 
form  of  intrigue  which  might  keep  his  position  secure. 
Sooner  or  later  would  appear  another  ambitious  pre 
tender  who  would  start  a  similar  insurrection  and  the 
government  would  again  be  changed. 

To  prevent  this  easy  recourse  to  revolution,  Diaz 
subsidized  railroads  and  telegraph  lines  which  were 
built  into  insurgent  districts  thus  affording  necessary 
information,  when  incipient  revolts  were  forming,  and 
he  was  thus  able  to  send  troops  to  quell  the  uprisings 
before  plans  could  be  matured  by  the  enemy.  Before 
his  time,  without  means  of  securing  information  and 
the  difficulty  of  marching  troops  and  transporting  sup 
plies  through  a  mountainous  district  without  roads, 
had  left  the  chances  of  success  with  the  revolutionists. 

Diaz  also  sent  for  the  leaders  of  the  banditti,  in 
quired  of  them  their  approximate  monthly  income  from 
the  hazardous  life  they  were  leading;  he  asked  if  they 
would  not  prefer  a  safe  life  for  the  same  pay,  and 
offered  to  make  them  "rurales,"  a  sort  of  rural  mounted 
police.  By  this  diplomatic  means  he  changed  a  dan 
gerous  element  into  a  body  of  efficient  police,  inasmuch 
as  they  were  posted  as  to  all  the  fastnesses  which  any 
other  robbers  might  use,  they  were  able  to  keep  the 
country  well  cleaned  of  desperadoes,  and  Mexico  be 
came  one  of  the  safest  places  in  the  world  for  the  trav 
eler. 


236  BEMINISCENCES 

What  will  come  to  this  great  country  after  the  death 
of  this  wise  ruler,  is  a  serious  problem.  Will  she  be 
torn  by  instability  and  revolt  as  in  times  past,  or  will 
some  other  capable  man  succeed  this  strong  and  effi 
cient  head  ?  No  one  can  tell. 

From  the  roof  of  our  hotel,  we  could  obtain  some 
excellent  views  of  Popocatepetl  and  the  White  Lady. 
Our  party  arranged  to  go  to  Vera  Cruz  by  the  National 
Railway,  a  road  which  had  been  built  by  English  capi 
tal  and  engineers.  We  left  in  the  morning  and  rode 
through  the  beautiful  valley  of  Mexico  and  over  the 
range  of  mountains  to  the  east  of  it,  to  the  city  of 
Pueblo.  We  found  this  a  very  interesting  city,  near 
which  lies  the  battleground  where  the  French  troops 
fought  the  Mexicans  on  the  "cinco  Mayo."  We  stopped 
at  a  hotel  of  modern  architecture.  It  was  nearly  quad 
rangular  in  form  and  three  stories  in  height.  One  side 
of  our  room  looked  out  on  a  street  and  the  other  opened 
upon  a  patio  or  court  The  rooms  were  entered  from  a 
gallery  or  hall,  which  ran  around  the  patio.  I  was  very 
much  pleased  with  this  hotel  and  we  stopped  here  for 
three  or  four  days. 

One  day  I  went  to  a  bull  fight,  the  first  I  had  ever 
witnessed.  As  a  bull  fight  it  was  the  best  I  have  seen, 
although  I  have  witnessed  several  since.  The  bulls 
were  black;  fine,  courageous  creatures.  I  must  own 
that  my  sympathies  were  with  the  bulls,  which  always 
met  death,  but  unfortunately  none  of  the  matadors. 
One  bull  jumped  over  the  fence,  which  was  fully  five 
feet  high,  and  which  encircled  the  arena.  I  did  not 
enjoy  the  sight  of  the  bulls  goring  the  poor  blindfolded 
horses.  When  a  bull  was  killed  a  team  of  horses  would 
be  driven  in,  hitched  to  the  hind  legs  of  the  dead  beast 


FKOM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  237 

and  it  was  drawn  from  the  arena.  Then  another  bull 
bounded  in  to  meet  its  fate. 

Another  day  we  went  to  the  Pyramid  of  Cholula, 
which  is  nine  miles  distant  from  the  city  of  Pueblo. 
This  pyramid  is  of  quadrangular  form,  six  or  eight 
hundred  feet  on  each  side  of  the  base.  It  is  a  subject 
of  great  conjecture,  as  no  knowledge  exists  as  to  its 
builders  or  mode  of  construction.  It  suggests  the  period 
of  the  Egyptian  pyramids  although  this  is  formed  of 
dirt.  It  is  about  three  hundred  feet  high  and  on  its 
top  is  built  a  church  bearing  the  usual  Eoman  Catholic 
emblems.  Around  this  pyramid  there  flourished  quite 
a  large  Indian  village. 

It  is  fifteen  miles  from  Cholula  to  Popocatepetl,  the 
extinct  volcano,  if  I  remember  correctly.  After  spend 
ing  the  day  viewing  the  pyramid  and  surrounding  vil 
lage  we  returned  to  Pueblo.  Near  this  city  are  the  quar 
ries  of  the  beautiful  Mexican  onyx.  There  was  a  large 
and  fine  cathedral  at  this  place,  the  interior  of  which 
was  ornamented  with  much  of  this  semi-transparent 
quartz.  The  dome  of  the  cathedral  was  beautifully 
frescoed,  and  in  the  center  of  the  dome  was  a  cross 
studded  with  diamonds,  which  were  easily  and  plainly 
seen  from  the  floor. 

From  the  main  line  of  the  National  Railroad,  lead 
ing  from  Vera  Cruz  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  a  branch 
some  thirty  miles  long  runs  to  Pueblo ;  on  this  road  are 
situated  extensive  mills  which  make  serapes  and 
blankets  of  brilliant  colors,  and  are  offered  for  sale  by 
peddlers  at  attractive  prices.  At  a  town  where  the 
branch  diverts,  quite  an  industry  was  carried  on  in 
the  manufacture  of  walking  canes  made  from  native 
woods  and  horn  engraved  by  local  artists. 


238  REMINISCENCES 

We  were  now  in  the  state  of  Tlaxcala,  where  in 
ancient  times  lived  the  tribe  of  Indians  whom  the 
Aztecs  were  never  able  to  conquer. 

We  met  the  train  going  to  Vera  Cruz  at  this  point 
and  proceeded  on  our  way  to  that  city.  We  crossed 
vast  plains  which  appeared  to  be  very  rich,  and  well 
cultivated,  from  a  Mexican  point  of  view.  During  the 
day  I  became  afflicted  with  one  of  the  terrible  head 
aches  to  which  I  was  subject  at  that  period.  It  was  so 
severe  that  my  wife  and  I  left  the  train  at  Orizaba  and 
remained  overnight  at  a  hotel,  the  rest  of  our  party 
going  on  to  Cordova  and  spending  the  night  there.  The 
next  morning  I  was  partly  recovered  from  my  indis 
position,  so  we  took  a  drive  among  the  orange  groves 
and  coffee  plantations  which  flourish  in  this  section. 

We  boarded  the  train  that  day  for  the  City  of  Mexico. 
There  are  some  heavy  grades  on  this  road  between 
Orizaba  and  the  plains  of  Tlaxcala.  The  locomotives 
used  are  of  English  make  and  of  a  style  called  double- 
enders.  It  is  a  peculiarity  of  this  road  that  the  govern 
ment  furnishes  a  company  of  soldiers  to  ride  upon  each 
train  to  protect  it  from  banditti.  I  found  our  old  ac 
quaintance,  Colonel  Foster,  in  command  of  the  company 
on  this  train.  Another  requirement  made  of  the  rail 
road  is  that  they  shall  run  a  trainload  of  pulque  into 
the  City  of  Mexico  each  day,  this  being  a  main  article 
of  diet  for  the  Mexicans.  We  arrived  at  the  City  of 
Mexico  that  evening. 

Through  the  kindness  of  Colonel  Foster  we  were 
permitted  to  visit  the  castle  of  Chapultepec  ("Grass 
hopper  Hill").  This  castle  had  been  fitted  up  regard 
less  of  expense  by  the  Emperor  Maximilian  as  a  sum 
mer  residence  for  himself  and  the  Empress  Charlotte. 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  239 

Through  some  mistake,  Colonel  Foster  who  was  to  ea- 
cort  us  through  the  palace  was  not  present  when  our 
carriages  arrived  at  the  main  entrance.  We  drove  on 
over  the  picturesque  road  leading  up  the  hill  passed 
the  soldiers  in  charge  without  challenge,  and  alighted  at 
the  doorway.  There  being  no  one  to  receive  us,  we 
walked  in  and  rambled  through  the  castle  for  some  three 
hours.  We  went  everywhere  we  chose  and  I  suppose 
saw  more  of  the  castle  than  is  the  fortune  of  most  tour 
ists.  There  are,  I  believe  no  finer  fittings  in  any  royal 
palace  in  Europe.  I  remember  one  stairway  where 
the  railings  and  banisters  were  of  solid  silver.  In 
Charlotte's  private  hall,  leading  to  her  oriel  room  the 
walls  and  stairways  were  of  onyx,  and  the  railings  and 
banisters  were  said  to  be  of  solid  gold.  The  dreams  of 
grandeur  and  greatness  that  filled  the  mind  of  the 
empress  were  to  be  ruthlessly  dispelled  by  the  capture 
and  death  of  her  beloved  consort 

Near  the  center  of  the  palace  was  a  well  which  was 
said  to  reach  the  bottom  of  Chapultepec  HilL  I  pre 
sume  that  a  tunnel  connects  it  there  with  the  outside 
world.  In  the  basement  of  the  palace  we  saw  stables 
cut  out  of  the  solid  rock,  extensive  enough  I  should 
judge  to  accommodate  a  hundred  horses,  though  none 
were  kept  there  at  that  time.  The  stables  themselves 
were  very  elegant  as  were  the  carriage  rooms.  There 
was  a  bewildering  number  of  beautiful  apartments  in  the 
palace  which  I  am  not  able  to  describe.  I  remember 
that  the  roof  garden  was  filled  with  a  variety  of  magnifi 
cent  tropical  flowers.  We  spent  a  most  agreeable  after 
noon  at  the  palace,  free  as  we  were  to  go  where  we 
wished  and  no  one  to  say,  "You  cannot  enter  here." 

At  the  national  museum  in  the  City  of  Mexico  is  the 


240  REMINISCENCES 

state  chariot  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  and  his  din 
ner  plate  of  solid  silver.  My  recollection  is  that  the 
outside  of  the  carriage  is  also  of  silver.  In  this  museum 
was  the  Aztec  Calendar  Stone  and  the  stone  upon  which 
the  ancient  Aztec  priests  made  their  human  sacrifices. 
There  was  a  gallery  of  pictures  in  the  City  of  Mexico 
said  to  excel  any  other  on  the  American  continent.  The 
mineral  exhibition  there  was  the  finest  I  have  ever  seen. 
The  cathedral  holds  many  paintings  usual  to  such  re 
ligious  edifices.  Altogether  the  trip  to  Mexico  proved 
very  interesting  and  instructive  to  me.  All  that  I  saw 
was  new  to  my  eyes  and  very  different  from  what  I  had 
ever  seen. 

I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Richard  Guen- 
ther  who  was  at  this  time  Consul  general  for  the  United 
States  to  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  During  the  short 
time  he  had  resided  in  this  country  he  had  acquired 
sufficient  knowledge  of  the  Spanish  language,  to  be  able 
to  deliver  an  oration  in  that  tongue  which  he  had  given 
at  the  unveiling  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Benito 
Juarez.  It  was  a  most  beautiful  monument  in  Italian 
marble,  representing  the  dead  patriot  in  a  reclining 
position. 

The  Paseo  Avenue  from  the  Alameda  Park  to  the 
Castle  of  Chapultepec,  built  by  Maximilian  for  the 
empress,  is  a  most  beautiful  drive  extending  from  the 
city  to  the  summer  palace. 

Knowing  that  I  was  interested  in  the  lumber  busi 
ness,  Mr.  Guenther  told  me  that  he  had  an  option  on 
some  four  hundred  thousand  acres  of  pine  land  within 
fifteen  miles  of  the  city  of  Durango;  that  it  was  repre 
sented  to  him  that  it  would  cut  fifteen  thousand  feet  of 
lumber  to  the  acre,  and  that  a  railroad  was  practical 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  241 

from  the  land  to  the  city.  I  told  him  I  was  willing  to 
go  there  and  see  if  the  representations  were  true  or 
false,  and  if  they  were  anywhere  near  the  truth  that  I 
would  take  an  interest  in  their  purchase.  Mr.  Guen- 
ther  said  he  had  a  partner  living  at  Valardena  engaged 
with  him  in  mining,  who  was  very  familar  with  the 
country  around  Durango,  and  spoke  Spanish  with 
fluency.  He  agreed  to  have  him  accompany  me  to  these 
forests.  I  therefore  arranged  to  have  my  wife  go 
through  to  Los  Angeles  with  the  acquaintances  from 
Iowa  with  whom  we  had  been  traveling.  Mr.  Guenther 
and  his  partner  Mr.  Godfrey  were  extensively  engaged 
in  mining,  and  it  was  arranged  that  a  mining  engineer 
in  their  employ  should  meet  me  at  Picardias  with  a 
team  and  take  me  to  Valardena,  The  railroad  from 
the  Torreon  station  to  Durango  was  not  yet  built  and 
it  was  necessary  to  travel  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  by  stage.  This  line  passed  through  Cuencame 
about  fifteen  miles  south  of  Valardena.  We  arrived 
about  an  hour  after  the  stage  had  passed.  It  would  be 
two  or  three  days  before  another  would  pass  on  its 
way  to  Durango,  Mr.  Godfrey  therefore  hired  a  Mexi 
can  to  take  us  to  that  city  and  we  started  the  next  morn 
ing,  traveled  at  a  moderate  pace  and  when  night  came 
stopped  at  a  miserable,  poverty  stricken  town  and  spent 
the  night  in  very  primitive  and  inhospitable  quarters. 
The  next  morning  our  driver  refused  to  go  any  farther, 
but  insisted  on  returning  to  Cuencame.  We  "hustled 
around"  and  found  another  Mexican  and  engaged  him 
to  take  us  to  Durango.  The  roads  were  very  bad,  the 
country  and  the  people  very  poor,  so  the  second  night 
proved  a  repetition  of  the  first  The  next  morning  this 


24:2  REMINISCENCES 

driver  also  refused  to  go  farther  and  we  were  obliged  to 
hire  still  another  team  to  get  us  to  Durango. 

On  arriving  at  this  place  we  found  a  passable  hotel 
and  were  enabled  to  take  a  bath,  which  we  certainly 
needed  after  the  two  days'  ride  through  such  dust  and 
dirt.  We  spent  as  much  as  two  or  three  days'  time  try 
ing  to  learn  from  the  parties  to  whom  we  were  referred, 
the  exact  location  of  the  lands  for  which  we  were  look 
ing.  The  governor  of  the  state  of  Durango  tendered  us 
a  couple  of  rurales,  and  we  hired  a  cook.  Thus  it  was 
that  one  morning  five  of  us  started  to  find  the  forests 
for  which  we  were  searching.  The  first  ten  or  twelve 
miles  traveling  towards  the  west,  crossed  plains  which 
extended  from  the  city  to  the  Sierra  Madre  Mountains. 
We  then  began  to  climb  the  mountains  which  appeared 
to  be  of  solid  rock  without  soil  or  vegetation ;  there  was 
a  perceptible  trail  and  that  was  all  we  had  to  guide 
us  on  our  way.  We  had  carried  a  little  water  with  us, 
which  enabled  us  to  take  an  afternoon  lunch,  but  none 
of  the  party  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  knew  the  country 
ahead  of  us.  After  dark  we  arrived  at  a  canyon  said 
to  be  three  thousand  feet  deep.  I  thought  it  was  all 
of  that  before  I  got  to  the  bottom.  Our  horses  followed 
the  trail  down  the  canyon  side  in  Indian  file.  It  was 
so  dark  we  could  see  but  little  of  the  dangers  and  we 
allowed  our  horses  to  pick  their  way  as  carefully  as 
they  chose.  About  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  the  bot 
tom.  After  following  down  the  canyon  about  a  mile  we 
saw  a  light  which  proved  to  issue  from  a  camp  of  lum 
ber  carriers,  who  were  transporting  boards  from  a  saw 
mill  to  Durango.  One  of  their  cavalcades  had  stopped 
at  this  place  over  night.  The  freighting  was  done  by 
burros.  To  each  side  of  these  beasts  of  burden  was 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  24:3 

lashed  four  boards,  one  end  of  which,  dragged  on  the 
ground.  These  boards  were  about  five-eighths  of  an  inch 
in  thickness,  twelve  inches  wide  and  about  twelve  feet 
long,  and  were  whip  sawed.  The  donkeys  were  driven 
along  Indian  file,  and  when  I  saw  the  quality  of  the 
lumber  displayed  in  this  line,  I  was  given  a  poor  opinion 
of  the  timber  in  this  district;  also  the  transporting 
facilities  looked  very  discouraging. 

Our  party  when  arriving  at  this  camp  were  thoroughly 
exhausted.  It  was  estimated  that  we  had  traveled  over 
sixty  miles  from  Durango  since  morning.  I  appeared 
to  be  the  only  one  of  the  party  who  insisted  on  having 
something  to  eat  before  lying  down.  The  other  members 
of  our  party  were  so  tired  that  they  desired  rest  more 
than  food.  I  had  our  provisions  unloaded,  a  fire  built 
and  some  bacon  fried  on  the  coals.  We  then  ate  heartily 
of  our  supplies,  lay  down  on  the  grass  of  the  canyon, 
under  the  canopy  of  stars,  and  slept  the  sleep  of  fatigue 
until  late  in  the  morning.  When  I  awoke  I  could  find 
nothing  of  more  interest  to  do,  so  I  began  shooting  at  a 
mark  with  my  revolver. 

We  ate  a  hearty  breakfast  and  then  the  matter  as  to 
whether  we  should  go  farther  was  seriously  debated.  I 
told  Mr.  Godfrey  that  no  timber  in  that  God  forsaken 
locality  would  interest  me  commercially  and  so  it  was 
agreed  that  we  should  return.  We  saddled  our  horses, 
mounted  and  rode  out  of  the  canyon.  That  day  we  made 
our  way  out  of  the  mountains  to  a  village;  I  have  for 
gotten  its  name.  A  primitive  iron  foundry  had  been 
established  here,  the  only  one  in  that  part  of  Mexico, 
although  there  is,  within  a  few  miles  of  Durango,  a 
mountain  of  iron  ore,  which  Humboldt  in  his  day  pro- 


244:  REMINISCENCES 

nounced  the  largest  visible  iron  ore  deposit  in  the 
world. 

The  next  day  we  traversed  the  valley  to  Durango 
where  we  arranged  to  take  the  stage  back  to  C'ueneame. 
The  coach  was  to  leave  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning: 
We  paid  for  our  passage  and  the  stage  company  agreed 
to  have  us  called  early,  so  that  we  would  not  be  left, 
and  to  make  double  assurance  we  engaged  a  man  at  the 
hotel  to  wake  us  at  the  proper  time.  In  the  deep  sleep 
of  early  morning  we  heard  this  garcon  pounding  at  our 
door  saying  that  the  stage  was  leaving.  I  arose  and 
donned  my  clothes  quicker  than  Godfrey  and  with  my 
valise  in  hand  I  started  out  just  as  the  stagecoach  made 
its  appearance  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  hotel.  It 
appeared  to  be  loaded  with  women.  There  was  no  use 
in  my  trying  to  talk,  as  no  one  would  understand  me  so 
I  found  a  place  on  the  back  seat  and  listened  to  the 
jargon  of  voices.  As  the  stage  was  about  to  leave  God 
frey  put  in  an  appearance  and  then  the  speech  was 
fast  and  furious.  I  afterwards  learned  from  Godfrey 
that  the  man  accompanied  by  enough  women  to  fill  the 
coach  had  made  his  application  after  we  had  procured 
our  seats  and  that  they  had  sold  him  the  seats,  our 
own  included,  counting  on  getting  away  before  we  ap 
peared,  thus  making  us  pay  again  the  next  day  and 
claiming  that  it  was  our  own  fault  that  we  had  lost 
our  places.  The  fare  was  some  $25  (Mexican)  each. 

These  Mexican  stages  were  built  in  imitation  of  the 
old  Concord  coach.  They  were  drawn  by  one  pair  of 
mules  on  the  pole  and  three  horses  abreast  in  the  lead. 
The  driver  had  conveniently  placed  near  his  feet  about 
a  peck  of  small  cobble  stones  which  he  threw  at  the 
leaders  as  occasion  required.  As  the  morning  broke 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  245 

and  the  sun  arose  Godfrey  and  the  passenger  came  to 
better  terms.  When  we  left  Durango  it  had  looked  as 
if  there  might  be  a  shooting  match,  but  during  the  day 
all  parties  became  quite  friendly.  About  noon  on  the 
second  day  we  arrived  at  Cuencame,  where  we  procured 
horses  to  ride  to  Valardena.  I  stayed  at  this  place  some 
two  or  three  days  to  inspect  some  mining  operations 
being  carried  on  by  Oshkosh  capitalists.  Mr.  Godfrey 
and  a  mining  engineer  by  the  name  of  A.  C.  Payne, 
having  charge  of  the  enterprise. 

The  country  between  Picardias  and  Durango  was 
very  sparsely  settled;  there  were  a  number  of  little 
towns,  that  were  very  poor,  dirty  and  unattractive. 
The  International  Railroad  from  Durango  to  Torreon 
was  not  built,  but  grading  was  being  done.  I  saw 
nothing  here  to  interest  me  in  the  way  of  mining  and 
so  I  left  Mexico  to  join  my  wife  in  California  where 
she  was  waiting  for  me.  I  stopped  but  a  short  time 
in  Los  Angeles,  but  while  there  I  visited  Sierra  Madre 
and  also  Santa  Anita,  the  ranch  belonging  to  "Lucky" 
Baldwin.  While  at  the  latter  place  I  attempted  with 
two  others  to  drink  a  bottle  of  wine  made  in  this  district, 
thinking  that  three  of  us  could  manage  that  quantity 
without  deleterious  effect,  but  after  a  limited  trial  I 
concluded  that  the  safest  way  to  carry  the  contents  of 
that  bottle  would  be  in  the  bottom  of  the  carriage. 

During  this  trip  we  also  visited  Riverside  and  saw 
the  noted  groves  of  that  place.  In  February  of  that 
year  there  had  been  a  hard  freeze  for  that  section,  which 
had  caused  the  oranges  to  drop  from  the  trees  in  great 
numbers.  On  Magnolia  Avenue,  a  drive  some  ten  miles 
long,  which  is  bordered  with  orange  groves  on  either 
side,  the  ground  was  literally  covered  with  oranges 


246  BEMINISCENCES 

which  had  fallen  from  the  trees,  owing  to  the  extreme 
cold  weather.  This  gave  me  an  unfavorable  impression 
as  to  the  profits  to  be  made  from  orange  growing  in 
Southern  California, 

Before  leaving  California  we  visited  San  Francisco, 
where  I  found  little  to  remind  me  of  my  former  sojourn 
there  in  1863-5.  From  San  Francisco  we  went  to  the 
city  of  the  Later  Day  Saints;  there  I  discovered  an 
old  acquaintance  with  whom  I  had  roomed  in  1864 
when  in  Austin,  Nevada.  He  had  established  a  fine 
livery  business  in  Salt  Lake  City  and  was  well  ac 
quainted  with  many  leading  Mormons.  He  showed  us 
about ;  taking  us  to  the  "Bee  Hive,"  the  Mormon  Church 
and  we  were  also  escorted  through  the  new  temple, 
which  was  then  building.  Salt  Lake  City,  with  its 
broad  streets  bordered  by  flowing  streams  of  water,  its 
fine  hotels  and  evidences  of  prosperity  on  every  hand, 
impressed  me  very  favorably.  It  appeared  to  me  to 
be  a  city  of  great  commercial  importance. 

It  occurred  to  me  to  visit  the  station  agent  in  Salt 
Lake  City  and  make  inquiries  of  him  as  to  which  train 
we  should  take  in  order  to  see  the  fine  scenery  I  had 
heard  lay  between  Salt  Lake  and  Denver  on  the  Denver 
&  Rio  Grande  Railroad.  The  agent  told  me  that  I 
should  take  the  train  leaving  the  city  in  the  morning 
and  stop  over  night  at  Grande  Junction  and  then  take 
the  train  again  the  following  morning.  I  replied  that 
I  had  been  told  that  there  was  not  much  to  see  between 
Salt  Lake  and  the  Junction.  He  answered :  "You  asked 
me  a  straight  question  and  I  have  given  you  a  straight 
answer.  If  you  think  I  don't  know,  take  which  ever 
train  you  please."  I  followed  his  directions  and  have 
always  felt  that  it  was  owing  to  this  advice  that  I  had 


FBOM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFORNIA  247 

the  pleasure  of  viewing  the  scenery,  the  most  magnifi 
cent  to  me  of  any  in  America,  if  not  the  grandest  I 
have  ever  seen. 

When  our  visit  was  ended  we  went  to  take  the  early 
morning  train  for  the  east.  In  the  passenger  room  at 
the  depot  we  met  a  Mr.  Dunstan,  wife  and  children. 
These  were  pleasant  acquaintances  of  my  wife,  she 
having  become  quite  friendly  with  them  while  she  was 
in  Los  Angeles,  and  I  was  still  on  my  trip  to  the  Sierra 
Madre  Mountains  west  of  Durango  in  Mexico.  They 
were  very  agreeable  people  and  we  traveled  in  their 
company  until  we  left  Denver  for  New  Orleans.  We 
passed  through  fertile  fields  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake 
Valley  which  were  irrigated  by  the  melting  snows  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  until  we  began  to  ascend  the 
range  of  mountains  lying  to  the  east  of  the  valley. 
Scenic  effects  of  sublime  grandeur  came  gradually 
into  view.  The  country  appeared  to  be  studded  with 
ruined  castles  built  of  brightly  colored  rocks  of  the  most 
fantastic  architecture.  I  remember  one  canyon  which 
looked  as  though  great  stone  doors,  hinged  to  the  moun 
tain's  side  had  been  swung  open  to  let  us  pass  through. 
We  crossed  the  valleys  of  the  Colorado  and  the  Green 
Rivers,  I  believe,  before  we  arrived  at  Grand  Junction, 
some  time  after  dark.  At  this  town  we  obtained  some 
what  primitive  accommodations  at  a  new  hotel  some 
distance  from  the  depot,  where  we  spent  the  night. 
After  breakfast  the  next  morning  we  took  the  train 
for  the  east.  I  had  a  good  impression  of  the  country 
around  Grand  Junction,  as  the  soil  appeared  to  be  very 
rich.  I  saw  a  large  number  of  fruit  trees  and  so  judged 
that  the  valley  would  be  a  fine  fruit  district;  this  proved 


248  BEMINISCENCES 

to  be  correct  as  it  is  now  recognized  as  a  superior  sec 
tion  for  raising  fruit. 

At  Glenwood  Springs  our  train  divided,  one  section 
taking  the  southern  route  over  Marshall  Pass,  which  is 
some  eleven  thousand  feet  in  elevation,  and  the  other 
division,  on  which  we  traveled,  taking  the  Northern 
route  by  the  way  of  Leadville,  where  Mr.  Dunstan 
wished  to  meet  some  acquaintances.  In  crossing  the 
mountains  we  saw  several  inches  of  snow.  We  stopped  at 
Leadville  for  a  day.  The  hotel  appeared  to  be  closed 
for  the  season,  but  at  one  we  were  able  to  secure  rooms ; 
for  our  meals,  however,  we  had  to  seek  a  restaurant. 
The  altitude  was  quite  trying  to  some  of  our  party. 
I,  myself  did  not  take  exercise  for  the  fun  of  it.  After 
leaving  Leadville  we  passed  through  some  fine  scenery, 
our  trip  being  through  the  Koyal  Gorge,  where  flows  a 
mountain  stream,  closed  within  high  walls  which  were 
nearly  perpendicular,  the  gorge  in  some  places  being 
quite  narrow.  The  railroad  crosses  the  river  on  a 
bridge,  one  end  of  which  is  supported  by  rods  fastened 
to  rocks  above. 

We  arrived  at  Colorado  Springs,  and  not  being  able 
to  get  accommodations  at  the  Antler's  Hotel,  we  went 
to  the  Alta  Vista,  which  is  near  it.  We  took  several 
excursions  while  in  Colorado  Springs.  One  to  a  can 
yon  where  we  hoped  to  see  some  beautiful  falls,  but 
were  disappointed.  We  went  to  Manitou  Springs  and 
to  the  Garden  of  the  Gods,  in  a  three  seated  surrey 
drawn  by  four  horses,  and  we  very  much  enjoyed  the 
ride.  The  scenery  in  the  "garden"  is  very  grand  and 
well  worth  a  visit.  I  learned  too  late,  that  my  old  tutor 
and  district  judge  of  our  moot  court  had  a  fine  residence 
here.  We  also  went  to  a  cave  whose  formation  was 


FROM    MEXICO    TO    CALIFOBNIA  249 

very  unusual  as  well  as  attractive.  The  party  entering 
the  cave  was  under  charge  of  a  guide  who  pointed  out 
the  wonderful  things  to  be  seen. 

From  Colorado  Springs  we  went  to  Denver,  where 
I  was  surprised  to  find  a  town  of  such  elegance.  The 
buildings  looked  as  though  they  might  have  been  trans 
ported  from  Boston.  We  went  from  here,  for  a  one 
day's  excursion  to  Georgetown  and  Silver  Plume.  The 
railroad,  building  into  this  canyon  held  the  greatest 
attraction  for  ma  At  one  point  there  was  a  loop,  the 
road  above  being  brought  in  a  curve  back  over  the  road 
below.  At  that  time,  this  was  considered  a  great  novelty 
and  a  fine  piece  of  engineering  skill,  covering  the  diffi 
culty  of  too  steep  a  grade. 

In  leaving  Denver  we  separated  from  our  traveling 
companions  who  had  added  so  much  to  our  pleasure  of 
the  journey.  The  Dunstans  went  east  to  Chicago  and 
Michigan.  Mr.  Dunstan  was  later  elected  lieutenant 
governor  of  his  state.  They  lived  at  Hancock  on  the 
Upper  Peninsula  of  Michigan. 

We  went  to  New  Orleans  by  the  way  of  Colorado 
Springs,  Pueblo  and  the  Pan  Handle  of  Texas.  In 
my  early  school  days,  the  geography  showed  this  pan 
handle  as  the  "staked  plain"  or  Great  American  Desert, 
I  was  surprised  therefore  to  ride  through  a  beautiful 
farming  country  with  a  rich  black  alluvial  soil,  as  fine 
as  that  of  Illinois  or  Indiana.  Our  route  was  through 
Fort  Worth  and  Houston,  where  we  struck  the  Southern 
Pacific  Railroad  for  New  Orleans  and  Pensacola. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AVENO    MINE. 

This  visit  to  Mexico  and  my  making  the  acquaint 
ance  of  Mr.  Godfrey  led  to  some  transactions  which 
caused  me  great  annoyance  and  considerable  pecuniary 
loss.  Godfrey  was  a  pushing  sort  of  man;  and  he 
boasted  much  of  his  knowledge  of  mines  and  also  of  his 
honesty.  While  I  was  with  him  at  Valardena,  he 
offered  me  a  third  interest  in  a  mine  on  which  he  was 
then  working,  as  a  present.  I  thanked  him  abundantly 
but  told  him  that  I  did  not  wish  an  interest  in  a  jack- 
knife  blade  mine ;  that  I  had  seen  too  many  of  them  in 
my  early  days  in  Nevada.  The  mine  in  question 
appeared  to  be  a  well-developed  fissure  vein  but  it  was 
only  six  inches  to  a  foot  in  thickness  and  required 
a  great  deal  of  work  to  extract  the  ore.  Godfrey  elaimed 
that  it  would  yield  a  hundred  dollars  to  the  ton  in  gold, 
besides  the  silver.  When  I  refused  to  meet  his  offer, 
he  asked  me  what  kind  of  a  mine  I  would  consider, 
and  I  told  him  that  when  he  found  a  good  fissure  vein 
ten  feet  thick,  that  would  yield  $25  to  the  ton  in  silver, 
he  might  write  me  and  I  would  come  and  see  it.  He 
wrote  some  time  later,  hoping  to  interest  me  in  the 
building  of  a  smelter  at  Torreon,  but  that  sort  of  in 
vestment  did  not  attract  me.  Matters  ran  along  until 
the  spring  of  1893,  when  he  wrote  me  that  he  had  found 
a  mine  much  better  than  the  hypothetical  one  I  had 
described  to  him  two  years  before,  and  he  wished  that 

250 


AVENO  MINE  251 

I  would  come  and  see  it.  I  went  to  Mexico,  met  Mr. 
Godfrey  and  saw  the  mine,  which  was  situated  twelve 
miles  from  the  city  of  Durango.  Two  brothers  by  the 
name  of  Diaz  were  working  it  under  a  lease.  A  little 
town  of  two  thousand  inhabitants  was  situated  at  the 
mine.  It  was  claimed  that  the  mine  had  been  worked 
for  over  two  hundred  years  and  that  a  depth  of  four 
hundred  feet  had  been  reached;  that  the  foot-wall  hav 
ing  never  yet  been  found,  the  width  of  the  vein  could 
not  be  estimated,  although  in  one  place  it  had  been  de 
veloped  fifty  feet  in  width;  and  the  ore  it  was  asserted 
would  clean  up  $25  per  ton  of  silver.  We  interviewed 
the  station  agent  where  Mr.  Diaz  made  his  shipments 
of  silver,  and  he  stated  that  the  shipment  amounted  to 
about  $18,000  per  month  in  silver,  the  product  of  this 
mine. 

Mr.  Diaz  acting  for  the  owner  offered  to  sell  me  the 
mine  for  $100,000  (Mexican)  with  an  option  running 
sixty  days  for  $5,000  (Mexican).  The  option  money 
was  to  count  in  the  purchase  price  if  I  bought  the  mine2 
if  not  it  was  to  be  forfeited.  The  price  included  the 
reduction  works,  which  were  of  the  old  fashioned  kind 
primitive  in  character  and  common  in  Mexico  at  that 
time. 

I  returned  to  Pensacola  much  elated  over  the  prospect 
of  a  fortune.  On  my  arrival  I  told  a  banker  of  that 
place  where  I  had  been,  what  I  had  seen  and  that  I 
proposed  to  go  to  New  York  to  try  and  place  the  mine 
there.  He  said:  "Why  not  place  it  here?"  I  replied 
that  I  did  not  believe  men  could  be  found  in  Pensacola 
who  would  invest  the  amount  necessary.  He  thought 
differently,  and  mentioned  the  names  of  half  a  dozen 
men  who  would  invest  $10,000  each.  He  offered  to 


252  BEMLNISCENCES 

pay  one-half  of  the  option  money  and  to  place  the  mine 
with  Pensacola  capitalists.  I  accepted  his  proposition 
and  forwarded  the  amount  necessary  to  secure  the 
option.  About  two  weeks  later  a  party  of  seven  promi 
nent  men  of  our  city  and  myself  started  to  visit  the 
mine. 

While  on  the  trip,  somewhere  after  leaving  Eagle 
Pass,  Mexico,  in  the  smoking  room  of  the  Pullman  car 
I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  mining  engineer  named 
Ayer,  from  Chicago.  He  was  traveling  in  Mexico  in 
the  interest  of  one  of  the  largest  manufacturers  of  min 
ing  machinery,  in  Chicago.  I  introduced  him  later  to 
the  members  of  our  party,  and  we  talked  with  him 
considerably  during  the  evening  of  matters  pertaining 
to  mining.  Seeing  that  he  was  well  posted  in  the  busi 
ness,  the  parties  from  Pensacola  eventually  concluded 
to  employ  him  to  go  and  see  the  mine  and  give  his 
opinion  as  to  its  value  and  prospects  independent  of 
the  report  furnished  by  Mr.  Godfrey  in  the  first  in 
stance  and  of  A.  C.  Payne,  made  after  he  had  visited 
the  mine  at  my  personal  request 

The  next  morning  we  left  Torreon  for  Durango,  tak 
ing  on  Mr.  Godfrey  and  Mr.  Payne  at  Pedrisena.  On 
arriving  at  Durango  the  party  decided  to  stop  there  a 
day  before  visiting  the  mine,  and  give  Godfrey  time  to 
procure  teams  to  take  us  out  to  the  mines.  The  Pensa- 
colians  enjoyed  the  city  of  Durango  very  much,  finding 
it  novel  and  beautiful  We  left  the  city  on  the  second 
morning  after  our  arrival  on  our  way  to  see  Aveno 
Mine.  Arriving  at  the  station  about  eight  miles  dis 
tant,  some  of  the  party  chose  to  ride  horseback  while 
others  preferred  the  carriage.  Reaching  Aveno,  the 
entire  party  was  lodged  in  a  large,  two  story  adobe 


AVENO    MINE  253 

building  belonging  to  the  mine  and  occupied  by  Mr. 
Diaz  as  a  residence. 

A  young  lawyer  of  Pensacola,  from  the  time  we  en 
tered  the  Republic  of  Mexico  had  been  troubled  with 
some  malady,  and  he  resorted  to  all  the  patent  medi 
cines  which  he  could  find;  each  member  of  the  party 
seemed  to  have  brought  some  kind  of  medicine  for  his 
own  particular  ailments  and  these  were  freely  contrib 
uted  to  the  stricken  individual;  I  judge  that  by  the 
time  we  arrived  at  the  Aveno  mine  he  must  have  swal 
lowed  at  least  a  gallon  of  patent  medicines  recommended 
for  about  every  disease  to  which  this  flesh  is  heir.  By 
bedtime  our  party  held  a  consultation  as  to  what  we 
could  do  for  the  sick  man,  and  some  additional  drugs 
were  obtained  from  the  commissary.  Between  one  and 
two  o'clock  the  combined  medicines  began  to  take  effect 
and  the  sick  man  was  relieved  but  I  observed  that  the 
patient  had  not  lost  a  single  meal  since  leaving 
Pensacola. 

Godfrey  and  Payne  amused  us  greatly  telling  min 
ing  anecdotes,  a  couple  of  which  I  had  occasion  to 
remember  later  on.  One  told  by  Godfrey  was  to  the 
effect  that  a  promoter  trying  to  impress  upon  the  mind 
of  an  expected  purchaser  that  he  was  getting  his  inter 
est  in  the  mine  at  first  cost,  said :  "I  am  letting  you  in 
on  the  ground  floor."  The  possible  buyer  queried: 
"But  how  about  the  fellow  in  the  basement?"  The 
story  that  Payne  gave  was  the  charge  of  an  English 
judge  to  a  jury  that  had  been  listening  to  the  evidence 
in  a  mining  case  which  was  being  tried  before  them. 
"Gentlemen  of  the  jury,"  said  his  honor,  "you  have 
listened  to  a  great  deal  of  conflicting  testimony  in  this 
case.  You  alone  are  to  decide  the  case  from  the  evi- 


254  EEMINISCENCES 

dence,  but  I  wish  to  call  jour  attention  to  the  fact  that 
there  are  three  kinds  of  liars:  the  common  liar,  the 
damned  liars,  and  the  mining  engineer/' 

We  spent  the  next  day  in  examining  the  mine  and 
the  reduction  works,  which  were  quite  extensive,  also 
in  acquiring  knowledge  of  the  past,  present  and  future 
prospects  of  the  mine.  Mr.  Ayer  was  employed  by  the 
Pensacola  parties  to  extract  half  a  ton  of  ore  from  the 
mine,  of  its  average  grade,  pulverize  it  and  take  it  to 
St.  Louis  for  reduction.  A  most  favorable  impression 
was  made  on  all  as  to  the  value  of  this  mine. 

That  night  we  returned  to  Durango  and  spent  the 
next  day  in  viewing  it ;  the  following  morning  our  whole 
party  started  for  the  City  of  Mexico.  The  country  and 
people  were  new  to  most  of  the  party  and  therefore 
more  interesting.  When  we  arrived  at  the  city,  the 
entire  party  put  up  at  the  Iturbide  Hotel.  One  even 
ing  while  there  all  met  in  my  rooms  and  agreed  to  the 
price,  division  and  purchase  of  the  mine  and  a  con 
tract  was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  all  interested.  After 
a  day  or  two  spent  in  sight  seeing  we  left  for  home 
over  the  National  Railway.  At  one  station  where  there 
was  a  brewery  our  young  lawyer  of  patent  medi 
cine  fame  got  out  to  procure  some  beer.  A  big  revolver 
protruded  from  his  pocket,  and  was  deftly  extracted  by 
another  member  of  our  party,  who  handed  it  to  me  for 
safe  keeping.  When  the  train  was  again  in  motion  the 
lawyer  was  apprised  of  his  loss;  it  was  the  opinion  of 
all  that  some  Mexican  must  have  taken  the  pistol  while 
the  lawyer  was  hunting  for  beer.  After  bracing  his 
mind  with  legal  reflections,  he  announced  his  intention 
to  sue  the  railroad  company  for  the  value  of  the  lost 
weapon.  As  he  himself  and  his  belongings  were  in  the 


AVENO  MINE  255 

custody  of  the  railway  company  it  must  be  responsible 
to  him  for  the  robbery.  All  the  party  agreed  with  him 
as  to  the  liability  of  the  company,  and  he  decided  to 
bring  suit  as  soon  as  he  should  reach  Texas,  where  Eng 
lish  was  spoken. 

Arriving  at  San  Antonio,  I  stopped  to  visit  my  sis 
ter-in-law  and  her  daughter,  who  were  temporarily  in 
that  city,  while  the  other  members  of  our  party  kept 
on  to  Florida.  Soon  after  when  I  reached  Pensacola 
I  was  notified  in  writing  by  Mr.  Brent  that  he  would 
withdraw  from  his  agreement  to  purchase  the  Aveno 
Mine,  and  in  quick  succession  I  was  notified  to  the 
same  effect  by  all,  I  think,  of  the  other  men  who  had 
signed  the  agreement  to  buy  the  mine.  I  felt  very 
much  disappointed,  but  was  satisfied  that  it  would  be 
of  no  use  to  make  any  fuss  about  it,  and  I  let  the  mat 
ter  drop. 

It  seems  that  while  we  were  in  Mexico  two  banks  in 
Chicago  had  failed,  owing  to  bad  management  I  think, 
and  that  this  had  brought  about  a  panic  in  money  mat 
ters  affecting  the  whole  country  and  resulting  in  serious 
loss.  During  our  absence  in  Mexico,  the  Louisville  & 
Nashville  Railroad  had  withdrawn  its  deposits  from  the 
bank  of  which  Mr.  Brent  was  president,  this  deposit 
amounting  to  some  $30,000,  the  State  of  Florida  had 
also  withdrawn  its  deposit  amounting  to  $40,000.  The 
general  impression  prevailed  that  all  banks  would  issue 
certified  checks  and  not  honor  individual  checks.  The 
bank  was  also  involved  in  the  liabilities  of  Mr.  Baars 
for  the  purchase  of  timber,  amounting  to  some  two 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  all  these  causes  combined  to 
put  the  bank  in  serious  straits.  During  the  summer  it 
resorted  to  certified  checks  and  refused  payment  of  the 


256  REMINISCENCES 

checks  of  individual  depositors  in  most  instances.  The 
money  in  payment  of  the  mine,  some  $60,000  would 
have  to  be  drawn  out  of  this  bank,  had  we  gone  on  with 
the  purchase  of  the  Aveno  Mine.  I  made  some  effort  in 
Chicago  to  preserve  the  option,  and  thought  I  might  be 
able  to  accomplish  the  purchase  of  the  mine,  but  B.  R. 
Pitt,  who  had  during  his  visit  to  Mexico  become  con 
vinced  of  the  value  of  the  mine,  at  the  last  moment 
failed  to  respond  and  I  had  to  give  up  the  purchase, 
although  having  paid  $500  additional  to  have  the 
option  extended  thirty  days. 

During  the  spring  I  was  appointed  by  the  Southern 
Lumber  Manufacturing  Company  in  connection  with  a 
Mr.  Burton,  to  erect  an  exhibit  of  southern  lumber  in 
the  Forestry  Building  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  in 
Chicago.  I  selected  from  my  lumber  at  Escambia  some 
very  handsome  varieties  of  curly  pine,  cypress  and  other 
woods,  which  I  sent  up  to  Chicago.  I  entered  into  con 
tract  with  a  firm  at  Meridian,  Mississippi,  to  erect  this 
exhibit,  the  design  for  which  was  made  by  an  architect 
of  that  place,  and  adopted  by  the  Southern  Lumber 
Manufacturing  Company.  The  exhibit  was  to  be 
erected  at  the  front  entrance  of  the  building,  opening 
towards  Lake  Michigan.  The  space  appropriated  to  us 
was  forty-five  feet  square,  and  forty-five  feet  high  and 
it  should  have  made  a  very  creditable  appearance,  but 
the  work  was  so  shabbily  done  by  the  contractors  that 
I  refused  to  accept  it  as  a  compliance  with  the  contract. 
I  had  paid  the  contractors  about  half  of  the  stipulated 
price  before  I  saw  the  exhibit,  then  I  refused  to  pay 
any  farther  sum  except  under  instructions  of  the  execu 
tive  officers  of  the  Association.  On  referring  the  mat 
ter  to  the  company  they  sustained  my  position  and  re- 


AVENO    MINE  257 

fused  to  order  me  to  pay  anything  farther  on  the  con 
tract.  I  received  a  season's  pass  to  the  exposition,  and  as 
I  spent  the  summer  in  Chicago  I  had  abundant  oppor 
tunity  to  visit  the  fair;  one  or  two  hours  at  a  time 
would  however  make  me  so  tired  that  I  gave  up  fre 
quent  visits. 

This  Columbian  Exposition  was  the  finest  effort  of 
the  kind  I  have  ever  seen,  or  ever  expect  to  see,  so  since 
that  time  I  have  taken  little  interest  in  visiting  others. 
There  may  be  something  in  the  future  that  will  excel  it, 
but  I  do  not  think  that  such  can  occur  in  this  genera 
tion.  Certainly  I  do  not  expect  to  live  to  see  it.  The 
Court  of  Honor  at  night,  with  electric  lights  in  full 
effulgence,  and  the  fountains  playing,  was  I  think  the 
most  brilliant  scene  that  my  eyes  ever  beheld  or  can 
ever  behold,  unless  it  be  my  good  fortune  to  gaze  upon 
the  golden  streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem  of  which  I 
have  heard  so  much  from  people  who  could  in  the  very 
nature  of  things  know  nothing  about  it. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

OUK   NEW    CORPOEATION. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  1893  I  returned  to  Escambia. 
I  learned  through  a  Mr.  Cyrus  Orr  that  my  partners, 
the  McDavids,  had  offered  their  interests  in  the  hold 
ings  of  Skinner  &  McDavid  to  the  father-in-law  of 
Mr.  Orr,  Colonel  Milner,  of  Birmingham,  Alabama, 
on  a  basis  of  $107,000  for  their  half  interest  in  the 
property.  Previous  to  this  I  had  notified  them  that  I 
would  not  continue  the  partnership  that  I  had  with 
them,  for  a  term  longer  than  that  mentioned  in  the 
articles  of  co-partnership ;  the  term  expiring  in  Novem 
ber  of  that  year.  I  had  informed  them  that  I  would 
organize  the  business  as  a  corporation,  if  they  would 
consent  to  do  so.  Upon  receiving  this  information  from 
Mr.  Orr  I  immediately  wrote  Mr.  John  McDavid  that 
I  had  been  informed  of  the  offer  by  himself  and  his 
brothers  to  Colonel  Milner,  and  that  if  they  wished  to 
sell  their  interest  in  the  firm,  I  would  pay  them  the 
price  they  asked  if  we  could  arrange  the  payments 
satisfactorily.  They  replied  that  they  would  sell  their 
interest  at  the  price  stated.  I  proposed  that  they  take 
about  twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  which  the  partner 
ship  owned  at  Choctawhatchee,  and  that  I  pay  them 
$10,000  cash,  assume  the  debts  of  the  firm,  and  pay 
them  $10,000  a  year  until  the  whole  amount  should 
be  paid ;  that  I  would  organize  the  property  into  a  cor 
poration  with  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  capital, 

258 


OUR  NEW   CORPORATION  259 

that  I  would  place  one  half  of  the  stock  of  the  said 
corporation  in  the  custody  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Pensacola,  as  collateral  to  secure  the  notes  for  $60,- 

000  dollars,  such  notes  to  be  payable,  $10,000  a  year, 
with  interest  at  six  per  cent,  per  annum.     In  consider 
ation  of  this  action  on  my  part  they  were  to  deed  to 
the  corporation  their  interest  in  the  lands  belonging 
to  Skinner  &  McDavid  and  give  a  bill  of  sale  to  said 
corporation  of  all  the  personal  property  of  whatever 
kind  or  wherever  found,  belonging  to  said  partnership. 
This  transaction  was  effected  and  each  of  the  several 
notes  paid  as  they  fell  due.    At  the  end  of  six  years  the 
bank  returned  to  me  the  stock  deposited  with  it,  to  se 
cure  the  payments  of  the  notes. 

In  the  new  corporation  there  were  as  stockholders 
only  three  persons,  my  wife,  my  son,  and  myself;  so 
our  business  was  practically  a  close  corporation.  The 
change  from  partnership  to  corporation  made  no  dif 
ference  in  our  business  nor  in  the  management  of  it. 

1  attended  to  most  of  the  business  in  the  woods,  and  to 
furnishing  logs  for  the  mill.     The  profits  in  the  manu 
facture    of    lumber    during    these    years    were    small; 
apparently  there  was  an  over  production  of  southern 
pine  lumber  and  it  was  sold  at  very  small  margin. 
The  cost  to  us  for  logs  cut  upon  our  lands  was  about 
$2  per  thousand  feet,  less  than  the  price  of  logs  bought 
on  the  market ;  this  of  course  left  us  a  small  margin  in 
competition  with  those  concerns  which  had  no  timber 
lands  of  their  own.     But  this  was  very  unsatisfactory 
to  me,  for  I  felt  sure  that  in  the  immediate  future  the 
stumpage  of  pine  lands  would  greatly  increase  in  value. 
I  made  strenuous  efforts  to  get  the  lumber  manufacturers 
of  the  gulf  coast  to  consolidate  their  interests  in  prac- 


260  REMINISCENCES 

tically  a  trust  company.  I  induced  about  sixty-six  per 
cent,  of  the  manufacturers  to  enter  into  such  a  combi 
nation,  but  the  jealousy  and  distrust  among  each  other, 
and  variable  necessities  of  individuals  rendered  the 
plan  inadequate  to  carrying  the  trust  to  a  successful 
issue,  so  after  spending  some  three  years  in  efforts  to 
solve  the  problem  of  over  production  and  prevent  under 
selling  I  gave  up  the  attempt  in  disgust. 

There  prevailed  in  the  south  an  idea  that  a  man  who 
had  failed  in  some  other  business  could  make  a  success 
in  running  a  sawmill;  there  were  constant  instances 
where  lumber  merchants,  that  is  the  men  who  bought 
lumber  from  the  mills  and  shipped  it  abroad  to  dealers 
in  Europe  and  elsewhere,  would  secure  money  from 
their  correspondents  and  with  it  would  assist  one  of 
these  impecunious  and  impractical  men,  who  were 
always  ready  but  without  means  of  their  own  to  start 
a  one  horse  saw  mill  business,  and  this  beginning  meant 
a  steady  down  grade  to  bankruptcy.  Hundreds  of 
these  futile  attempts  have  I  seen;  efforts  to  get  rich 
without  capital  and  without  experience  in  the  manu 
facture  of  lumber ;  while  the  fact  is  that  to  successfully 
operate  a  sawmill  requires  the  highest  order  of  admin 
istrative  and  executive  ability  and  the  man  who  is  com 
petent  to  construct,  operate  and  make  money  in  a  saw 
mill,  has  the  ability  to  enter  upon  and  manage  any 
other  business  successfully,  of  which  he  has  the  neces 
sary  training. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

SECURING    GOVERNMENT    APPOINTMENTS     FOR     FRIENDS. 

My  wife  and  I  went  to  a  session  of  the  Chautauqua 
Society  at  De  Funiak  Springs,  Florida,  to  find  some 
relief  from  the  monotonous  life  at  Escambia.  While 
there  I  chanced  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  Kev. 
Geo.  Collier,  who  had  served  in  the  Civil  War  as  chap 
lain  in  the  regiment  of  which  William  McKinley 
was  major.  This  gentleman  was  very  desirous  that 
Mr.  McKinley  should  be  nominated  the  next  year  for 
the  presidency,  and  he  tried  hard  to  inject  into  me 
some  of  his  enthusiasm  on  the  subject.  I  told  him  that 
I  had  had  my  last  experience  in  politics  and  that  I 
should  attend  no  more  negro  conventions.  The  next 
year  he  came  to  my  house  in  company  with  his  wife 
and  said  that  Major  McKinley  wished  him  to  visit  me 
and  induce  me  to  work  for  his  nomination.  He  showed 
me  a  letter  in  which  McKinley  stated  that  he  desired  the 
acquaintance  of  an  honest,  influential  man  upon  whom 
he  could  rely,  should  he  be  elected,  for  advice  as  to 
appointments  to  office  in  Florida,  and  he  therefore 
wished  him  to  visit  me,  so  there  would  be  no  mistake, 
and  if  he  should  find  me  the  man  he  needed,  to  urge 
me  to  go  as  a  delegate  to  the  St.  Louis  convention  in 
his  behalf. 

I  told  Mr.  Collier  as  in  my  previous  talks  with  him 
that  I  would  not  again  become  a  member  of  a  negro 
convention,  but  after  great  persuasion  on  the  part  of 

261 


262  REMINISCENCES 

my  guest,  listening  to  his  statements  regarding  the  fine 
character  of  McKinley  and  the  intimate  relations  that 
he  held  with  him,  that  my  help  would  place  me  first  in 
the  esteem  of  the  future  president  among  the  citizens 
of  Florida,  all  this  added  to  the  personal  entreaties  of 
Mr.  Collier  made  me  reverse  my  judgment  and  I  prom 
ised  to  make  an  effort  to  secure  a  delegation  from  our 
state  which  would  vote  for  McKinley's  nomination  at 
St.  Louis.  I  had  been  in  touch  with  the  republican 
politics  of  Escambia  County  for  several  years.  When  I 
sought  out  the  republican  leaders  and  told  them  what 
I  would  like  to  do,  I  was  informed  by  them  that  they 
did  not  believe  that  a  McKinley  delegation  could  be 
had  from  the  state.  It  had  been  impressed  upon  me  by 
Mr.  Collier  that  as  Florida  held  the  first  convention  to 
elect  delegates  that  if  a  delegation  favorable  to  Mc 
Kinley  could  be  secured  here  it  would  serve  to  influence 
those  states  which  would  hold  conventions  later. 

I  was  told  on  the  other  side  that  ex-vice  president 
Morton  had  sent  twenty  thousand  dollars  into  Florida 
to  be  distributed  among  politicians  "where  it  would 
do  most  good,"  towards  obtaining  a  delegation  in  his  be 
half  ;  that  an  emissary  had  been  all  through  the  western 
part  of  the  state,  distributing  a  good  part  of  that  fund, 
and  it  was  the  opinion  that  every  republican  negro 
politician  had  been  "fixed."  It  was  considered  useless 
to  hope  to  change  the  trend  of  politics  as  they  then 
stood.  I  informed  these  pessimists  that  I  was  inclined 
to  assist  Mr.  McKinley  and  that  if  they  would  help  me 
that  we  would  send  a  delegation  to  St.  Louis  pledged 
to  nominate  our  candidate;  I  agreed  to  pay  suitable 
persons  their  expenses  if  they  would  go  into  the  dif 
ferent  counties  west  of  the  Apalachicola  River  to  stim- 


GOVEBNMENT   APPOINTMENTS  263 

ulate  efforts  in  electing  delegates  to  the  republican  con 
vention  to  be  held  at  Tallahassee,  in  the  month  of 
April.  These  state  delegates  would  in  their  turn  elect 
the  delegates  to  be  sent  to  the  National  Convention  to 
be  held  by  the  republicans  in  St.  Louis  that  year. 

It  was  decided  that  it  would  be  best  to  hold  the  coun 
ty  convention  at  Escambia,  where  I  lived,  on  the  suppo 
sition  that  the  leaders  of  the  different  factions  of  ne 
groes  could  be  more  easily  controlled  there  than  in  the 
city  of  Pensacola  where  free  access  could  be  had  to 
numerous  saloons.  A  passenger  train  was  chartered  on 
the  railroad  to  bring  the  delegates  and  others  to  the 
convention.  I  asked  the  trustees  of  the  colored  church 
for  the  use  of  their  building,  which  was  granted  after 
my  becoming  personally  responsible  for  any  damage 
done  to  their  property. 

The  negro  is  very  shrewd  and  unscrupulous  in  poli 
tics.  When  the  certificates  of  the  delegates  were  handed 
in  from  the  different  precincts,  it  was  discovered  that 
the  call  for  the  meeting  to  be  held  in  one  precinct  of  the 
city  of  Pensacola  stated  that  the  meeting  would  be 
held  at  1  o'clock  on  a  certain  day  of  the  month,  without 
stating  whether  it  would  be  1  A.  M.  or  1  P.  M.  of  that 
date,  so  that  precinct  had  two  sets  of  delegates  to  repre 
sent  it  in  the  convention.  One  meeting  had  been  held 
at  1  A.  M.  and  the  other  at  1  P.  M. 

After  the  expenditure  of  a  large  amount  of  oratory 
the  convention  was  finally  organized  and  its  officers 
elected.  On  one  occasion  in  the  meeting,  a  lawless  negro 
threw  a  missile  of  some  kind  which  struck  the  side  of 
the  room  near  my  head.  I  arose  and  walked  over  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  presiding  officer  and  told  the  convention 
that  the  building  belonged  to  me,  that  I  had  given  the 


264  REMINISCENCES 

convention  the  use  of  it,  but  that  I  would  permit  no 
lawless  or  turbulent  conduct  in  the  room.  Quiet  was 
restored  for  a  time  but  it  became  evident  later  that 
four  or  five  burly,  hot  headed  negroes  were  bent  on 
breaking  up  the  meeting  in  a  row.  At  last  one  of  them 
seized  the  table  in  front  of  the  presiding  officer  and 
broke  a  leg  from  it.  I  arose  and  ordered  the  whole 
convention  to  leave  the  room,  which  order  was  obeyed.  I 
then  informed  the  disturbing  element  that  I  should  go 
to  the  office  and  have  all  these  rowdies  arrested.  I 
went  to  my  office,  but  I  was  unable  to  get  the  sheriff 
by  telephone  as  he  was  absent,  so  after  spending  a  few 
moments  in  trying  I  returned  to  the  convention  hall, 
to  find  that  the  troublesome  negroes  had  disappeared, 
and  then  I  invited  the  delegates  back  into  the  hall,  so 
the  convention  was  reorganized  with  the  disturbing 
element  absent.  After  this  I  stood  by  the  presiding 
officer  and  dictated  his  mode  of  procedure.  A  full 
quota  of  delegates  was  elected  to  the  Tallahassee  con 
vention.  John  Eagan  and  some  of  the  other  republi 
can  leaders  among  the  white  men  disappeared  from  the 
convention  when  I  went  to  call  the  sheriff,  and  did  not 
reappear  to  take  part  in  the  farther  proceedings.  In 
this  manner  thirteen  delegates  were  secured  from  the 
county  of  Escambia  to  the  state  convention  to  be  held 
at  Tallahassee.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  intention  of 
the  unruly  element  to  break  up  the  convention  in  a 
row  and  hold  another  of  its  own,  but  my  vigorous  inter 
vention  foiled  their  plans. 

The  McKinley  forces,  as  I  remember,  were  equally 
successful  in  all  the  counties  west  of  the  Apalachicola 
River.  The  outcome  of  the  Escambia  convention  gave 
me  some  reputation  as  a  ruler  of  negro  conventions. 


GOVERNMENT   APPOINTMENTS  265 

The  state  of  Florida  west  of  the  Apalachicola  River  sent 
to  the  Tallahassee  convention  a  solid  McKinley  delega 
tion  numbering  about  forty.  The  total  number  of  dele 
gates  in  that  convention  was  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  The  delegates  east  of  the  river  were  about 
equally  divided  between  McKinley  and  Morton,  leaving 
the  delegates  in  the  state  standing  about  eighty  for 
McKinley  and  forty  for  Morton.  Upon  my  arrival  at 
Tallahassee  to  attend  the  convention  I  was  taken  with 
another  attack  of  sick  headache,  which  lasted  about 
twenty-four  hours.  When  I  was  able  to  attend  the  con 
vention  it  had  been  organized.  The  turbulent  negroes 
of  the  Morton  faction  were  exhibiting  their  chagrin  in 
powerful  oratory.  There  was  no  way  to  stop  this  dis 
play  of  forensic  eloquence  except  by  driving  them  from 
the  room  or  allowing  them  to  talk  until  they  were  ex 
hausted.  This  flow  of  oratory  was  kept  up  till  after 
midnight,  when  the  Morton  faction  under  the  lead  of 
"Jim"  Coombs  seceded  from  the  convention,  leaving 
to  those  remaining  in  the  room,  the  duty  of  electing 
delegates  and  performing  the  other  services  that  were 
customary.  John  G.  Long,  Dennis  Eagan,  myself  and 
a  negro  were  elected  delegates  for  the  state  at  large. 

When  the  delegates  from  the  counties  of  the  first 
congressional  district  were  assembled  it  was  found  that 
the  chairman  of  that  district  was  among  the  seceders, 
and  when  sent  for  he  refused  to  attend  the  district  con 
vention.  Another  delegate  from  the  district  was  nomi 
nated  and  elected  to  act  in  his  stead,  and  two  congres 
sional  delegates  were  duly  elected.  The  seceders  from 
the  convention  belonging  to  the  first  congressional  dis 
trict  held  a  meeting  and  elected  two  delegates  also  to 
the  convention ;  I  think  these  two  were  "Jim"  Coombs 


266  REMINISCENCES 

and  a  negro  from  Pensacola  named  Mark  White.  The 
second  district  elected  McKinley  delegates.  The  state 
of  Florida  went  to  the  St.  Louis  convention  with  eight 
delegates  pledged  to  his  support,  and  the  two  contesting 
delegates  whom  I  have  mentioned  as  supporting  Mor 
ton.  This  made  a  contest  at  St.  Louis  and  much  to  the 
surprise  of  everyone  that  had  anything  to  do  with  it, 
the  two  Morton  delegates  were  admitted  to  seats  in  the 
convention  to  the  exclusion  of  the  two  delegates  regu 
larly  elected;  on  the  ground  that  the  seceding  conven 
tion  was  the  regular  one  because  it  was  called  to  order 
by  the  chairman  of  the  congressional  committee,  who 
had  refused  to  perform  that  duty  for  the  regular  con 
gressional  convention. 

When  I  attended  the  St.  Louis  convention  my  wife 
accompanied  me.  We  had  engaged  accommodations  in 
a  private  hotel  free  from  the  great  crowd  that  was  in 
the  city  at  that  time,  and  we  had  very  pleasant  quarters 
there. 

The  convention  met  in  a  large  hall  erected  for  the 
purpose.  I  found  that  a  few  men  ran  the  whole  busi 
ness  and  that  the  other  members  of  the  convention  had 
very  little  to  do  with  the  planning  of  the  resolutions, 
the  work  being  done  by  a  few  men  in  committee.  The 
most  vital  resolution  was  one  concerning  the  money 
question.  A  large  number  of  delegates,  especially  from 
some  of  the  western  states  and  mining  territories,  were 
in  favor  of  the  free  coinage  of  silver.  I  think  that  this 
craze  which  affected  a  large  part  of  the  population  of 
the  United  States  was  composed  principally  of  the  same 
men  who  had  at  the  preceding  presidential  campaign 
favored  the  issuing  of  greenbacks  in  unlimited  quan 
tities,  so  as  to  supply  all  the  need  of  money  to  the  coun- 


GOVERNMENT    APPOINTMENTS  267 

try  and  the  individuals.  I  was  uncompromisingly 
opposed  to  both  schemes;  I  believed  that  gold  was  the 
only  metal  that  represented  real  money  among  the 
commercial  nations  of  the  world;  that  any  substitute 
for  gold  in  the  way  of  coining  silver  and  printing  paper 
should  be  used  only  to  represent  gold  in  possession. 

The  debate  on  this  money  question  occupied  more 
of  the  convention's  time  than  any  other  subject.  The 
views  of  McKinley  had  never  been  fully  expressed  on 
this  question,  though  he  was  generally  believed  to  be 
in  favor  of  placing  the  country  on  a  gold  basis.  The 
leaders  among  the  delegates  advocating  free  coinage  of 
silver,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  convention  nearly 
one  whole  day  under  the  determined  lead  of  Senator 
Teller  of  Colorado,  Cannon  of  Utah  and  some  others. 
These  finally  concluded  to  secede  from  the  republican 
party,  to  take  their  followers  over  to  the  democrats. 
Apparently  not  much  effort  was  made  to  combat  their 
arguments  but  they  were  allowed  the  floor  and  the 
chance  to  talk  until  like  the  negroes  in  a  southern  con 
vention,  they  should  talk  themselves  into  physical  ex 
haustion  ;  then  the  vote  on  the  resolution  in  favor  of  gold 
as  the  basis  of  the  country's  coinage  was  carried  by  a 
large  majority. 

The  advocates  of  silver  coinage,  with  Senator  Teller 
in  the  lead  took  their  defeat  most  seriously.  As  they 
sat  with  tears  running  down  their  cheeks,  they  remind 
ed  me  of  scenes  I  had  witnessed  in  my  younger  days, 
of  emotional  persons  at  Methodist  revival  meetings. 
They  arose  finally  in  a  very  spectacular  manner  and 
announced  that  they  seceded  from  the  republican  party, 
that  they  could  not  stay  with  it  and  be  particeps 
criminis  in  the  ruin  of  the  business  of  the  country  which 


268  REMINISCENCES 

would  be  sure  to  follow.  Their  departure  reminded  me 
of  the  seceders  from  the  Tallahassee  convention  as  they 
had  marched  out  of  the  hall  a  few  months  before.  The 
seats  of  the  Florida  delegates  were  on  the  right  side  of 
the  main  aisle,  and  as  the  seceders  passed  me  I  called 
to  them:  "WHEN  YOU  GET  OUT  STAY  OUT. 
DON'T  COME  BACK."  I  was  so  disgusted  with 
what  I  believed  to  bo  their  insincere  talk.  They  be 
lieved  that  the  industries  of  their  sparsely  settled  ter 
ritories  would  be  injured  by  want  of  a  market  for  the 
silver  bullion  that  was  being  extracted  from  their  mines, 
and  they  would  sacrifice  the  best  interests  of  the  coun 
try  at  large  for  the  petty  interests  of  their  own  particu 
lar  section.  They  were  undoubtedly  doing  what 
they  thought  they  were  compelled  to  do  in  order  to 
retain  their  seats  in  the  United  States  senate,  whatever 
might  be  their  honest  convictions  upon  the  question 
at  issue. 

After  this  historic  episode,  the  nominations  for  the 
presidential  candidate  were  in  order.  A  number  of 
the  delegates  who  prided  themselves  upon  their  orator 
ical  ability  arose  to  second  the  nomination.  Morton 
also  received  a  nomination.  When  the  voting  took 
place  each  state  delegation  was  called  upon  to  announce 
through  its  spokesman  the  vote  of  that  state,  the  states 
being  called  in  alphabetical  order.  When  the  state  of 
Florida  was  called  I  told  the  negro  who  was  spokesman 
for  our  delegation  to  answer  "eight  votes  for  Mc- 
Kinley,"  which  he  did.  Then  Jim  Coombs  arose 
and  asked  that  the  delegates  from  Florida  be  polled. 
Each  delegate  arose  as  his  name  was  called  and 
announced  for  whom  he  voted.  The  corrected  vote 
showed  that  Florida  cast  six  votes  for  McKinley  and 


GOVERNMENT   APPOINTMENTS  269. 

two  votes  for  Morton,  these  two  were  Coombs  and 
White. 

The  announcement  of  the  vote  of  the  convention 
showed  that  McKinley  had  a  large  majority,  and  but 
one  ballot  was  necessary  to  secure  his  nomination.  One 
ballot  was  also  necessary  to  nominate  the  vice-president, 
the  choice  of  the  convention  being  Mr.  Hobart  of  New 
Jersey.  This  practically  concluded  the  duties  of  the 
convention. 

John  G.  Long  was  very  anxious  to  be  a  member  of 
the  national  republican  committee.  He  practically  con 
trolled  the  four  negroes  in  our  delegation,  and  would 
dictate  the  membership  from  our  states  on  the  different 
committees.  I  had  no  farther  ambitions  in  a  political 
way  in  Florida,  and  did  not  choose  to  oppose  any  of  his 
designs.  If  I  had  anticipated  his  course  later  I  would 
have  made  strenuous  efforts  to  block  his  game,  and  with 
such  efforts  on  my  part,  I  believe  that  a  different  result 
would  have  been  accomplished  in  our  committee.  I 
desired  to  be  on  the  committee  to  notify  McKinley  of 
his  nomination,  but  such  did  not  appear  to  be  Mr. 
Long's  pleasure  and  I  was  too  proud  to  ask  any  favors. 
It  seems  that  the  chairman  of  the  state  delegations  from 
states  that  had  no  republican  congressmen  or  senators, 
had  met  together  and  agreed  among  themselves  that 
they  would  control  the  political  patronage  of  those 
states.  This  I  was  informed  had  been  agreed  upon, 
though  I  had  no  evidence  of  it  except  as  circumstances 
developed  in  the  state  of  Florida  after  the  inauguration 
of  McKinley. 

At  the  Tallahassee  convention  Dennis  Eagan,  who 
had  been  the  chairman  of  the  state  republican  committee 
for  a  great  many  years,  and  had  remarkable  control  over 


270  REMINISCENCES 

the  negro  politicians  of  the  state,  declined  a  re-election 
and  he  offered  the  name  of  John  E.  Stillman  as  his  suc 
cessor,  in  a  speech  in  which  he  complimented  Mr.  Still 
man  as  one  worthy  of  every  confidence  and  esteem.  Still 
man  was  unanimously  elected,  due  I  think  to  Mr. 
Eagan's  recommendation.  While  he  was  favorably 
known  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state,  up  to  that  time 
he  was  almost  unknown  in  the  western  part.  Mr.  Long, 
in  his  efforts  to  control  the  politics  and  federal  appoint 
ments  in  the  state,  conceived  that  it  would  be  necessary 
to  have  a  state  committee  which  would  obey  his  orders, 
and  his  first  move  was  to  promote  harmony  in  the  party. 
He  suggested  that  a  certain  number  of  the  committee, 
there  being  one  member  from  each  county,  I  think  some 
forty-five  in  all,  should  resign  and  that  Morton  men, 
or  seceders  should  be  appointed  in  their  places.  This 
would  give  each  faction  twenty  two  votes,  and  the  chair 
man  would  have  the  casting  vote.  This  proposition  was 
argued  by  Long  until  it  was  agreed  to.  Finding  that 
he  could  not  control  Stillman,  he  felt  it  was  necessary 
to  get  him  out  of  the  way.  He  therefore  persuaded 
John  Eagan  to  resign  as  member  from  Escambia 
County,  and  have  a  Morton  man  appointed  in  his  place ; 
which  was  done.  When  a  state  committee  meeting  was 
called  and  Stillman  was  deposed  from  the  chairman 
ship  a  tool  of  Long's  was  elected  in  his  stead.  John 
Eagan  had  just  enough  Irish  treachery  in  his  make 
up  to  betray  his  brother  and  the  many  friends  who  had 
trusted  him  to  carry  out  their  plans,  nor  did  he  let  me 
know  of  his  intended  treachery.  When  the  conditions 
had  thus  been  arranged  to  Mr.  Long's  liking  he  thought 
he  would  be  the  exclusive  dispenser  of  national  patron 
age  in  Florida.  On  the  pretext  that  republican  politics 


GOVERNMENT    APPOINTMENTS  271 

in  the  state  required  it,  a  meeting  of  the  state  committee 
was  called;  the  real  purpose  of  this  being  to  remove 
Stillman  from  the  chairmanship  and  to  elect  a  Morton 
man  to  the  place;  which  was  promptly  done.  Mr. 
Stillman  was  too  honest  and  independent  to  lend  him 
self  to  Mr.  Long's  purpose  and  he  in  consequence  waa 
ejected  from  the  machine.  Until  this  time  I  had  no 
realizing  sense  of  the  power  of  "the  machine."  I 
found  it  was  very  difficult  to  have  McKinley  make  an 
appointment  which  it  opposed;  however  Dennis  Eagan 
was  appointed  postmaster  at  Jacksonville,  and  Still 
man  was  appointed  collector  of  customs  at  Pensacola 
and  both  of  these  appointments  were  very  satisfactory 
to  me. 

When  the  Morton  men  seceded  from  the  convention 
at  Tallahassee  Mr.  Sheppard  was  sitting  at  my  side,  and 
"Jim"  Coombs  was  sitting  directly  back  of  us.  When 
the  stampede  occurred  Coombs  called  to  Sheppard, 
"Come  on,  let's  go,"  while  I  said :  "Don't  you  go ;  stay 
here  with  us  and  I'll  take  care  of  you."  So  Sheppard 
refused  to  go  with  Coombs  and  this  made  the  latter 
very  angry. 

It  was  some  time  in  June  after  McKinley  was  in 
augurated  that  Sheppard  wrote  urging  me  to  help  him 
to  an  appointment  as  United  States  district  attorney, 
but  a  short  time  after  this  I  learned  that  Coombs  and 
Sheppard  had  made  up  with  each  other  and  that  the  lat 
ter  had  accepted  the  appointment  of  collector  of  customs 
at  Apalachicola.  About  the  same  time  John  Eagan 
asked  me  to  recommend  him  for  United  States  district 
attorney  for  northern  Florida.  I  told  him  I  would  do  so 
provided  Sheppard  had  accepted  the  appointment  of 
collector  of  customs  at  Apalachicola.  I  wrote  Sheppard 


272  REMINISCENCES 

and  found  that  the  report  was  true.  At  the  death  of 
John  Eagan,  Sheppard  was  appointed  United  States 
district  attorney  and  later  upon  the  demise  of  Judge 
Swain  he  was  made  United  States  district  judge  for 
the  northern  district  of  Florida,  by  President  Roosevelt. 

Up  to  this  time  I  had  never  met  Mr.  McKinley  and 
concluded  that  I  would  go  to  Washington  and  see  him. 
Senator  Mallery  took  me  to  the  White  House  and  in 
troduced  me  to  the  president,  who  was  very  gracious; 
and  informed  me  that  Mr.  Collier,  who  had  been  in 
strumental  in  securing  my  services  for  the  campaign, 
was  one  of  his  dearest  friends.  I  told  him  that  my 
object  in  coming  to  Washington  was  to  ask  him  to  ap 
point  John  Eagan  United  States  district  attorney;  he 
asked  who  Mr.  Eagan  was  and  his  qualifications  for  the 
place,  and  I  informed  him  that  he  was  a  brother  of 
Dennis  Eagan,  was  a  bright  lawyer  who  had  been  most 
active  in  republican  politics,  and  had  helped  me  secure 
a  Florida  delegation  for  him.  Then  the  president  took 
a  card  from  a  pigeon  hole  of  the  desk  at  which  he  sat, 
filled  it  out  with  the  necessary  information,  and  told  me 
that  he  would  have  Mr.  Eagan' s  appointment  sent  to  the 
senate  in  the  morning;  this  was  done  and  the  appoint 
ment  confirmed  on  the  same  day,  which  was  a  very 
unusual  occurrence.  My  success  with  the  president  in 
this  instance  led  me  to  believe  that  he  would  recognize 
the  obligation  he  was  under,  and  that  he  would  favor 
me  whenever  I  made  a  strong  effort  to  secure  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  friend. 

At  the  application  of  several  aspirants  for  political 
office  I  gave  them  my  written  endorsement  and  made 
no  personal  application  to  the  president  until  it  came 
to  the  appointment  of  United  States  marshal.  T.  F. 


GOVERNMENT   APPOINTMENTS  273 

McGourin  desired  that  office,  he  had  been  of  great  serv 
ice  to  the  party  and  had  made  strenuous  efforts  in  be 
half  of  McKinley.  I  had  assured  him  at  the  Talla 
hassee  convention  that  he  should  have  this  position.  He 
had  antagonized  Long  by  his  independence  and  refusal 
to  be  dominated  by  him ;  I  believed  him  to  be  a  straight 
forward,  honest  man;  he  was  however  of  a  nervous 
temperament  and  became  quite  insistent  that  his  claims 
should  be  presented ;  this  was  done,  in  time  and  his  en 
dorsement  filed.  At  his  urgent  solicitation  I  decided 
that  I  would  go  and  see  the  president  about  it,  though 
the  commission  of  the  present  democratic  incumbent 
would  not  expire  for  some  six  weeks.  I  went  to  Chicago 
with  my  wife  and  from  there  to  Washington,  via  San- 
dusky,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  Collier  lived.  The  latter  gave 
me  a  letter  to  the  president  in  which  he  recited  his 
having  visited  me  at  his  (the  president's)  request,  and 
the  latter's  promise  that  if  I  would  work  for  him  he 
would  recognize  me  in  federal  appointments  in  Florida. 

When  I  arrived  in  Washington  I  was  admitted  to 
the  president  without  the  intervention  of  any  senator. 
After  some  pleasant  conversation  I  told  the  president 
the  object  of  my  visit  at  that  time,  and  handed  him  the 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Collier;  this  latter  gentleman  was 
also  a  firm  friend  of  Mr.  McGourin.  The  president 
took  the  letter  and  wrote  on  the  back  of  it,  signed  his 
name  to  what  he  had  written,  put  it  in  an  envelope, 
sealed  it,  handed  it  to  me  and  said :  "Take  this  letter 
to  Mr.  Griggs,  the  attorney  general." 

During  our  talk  the  president  had  said  that  the 
democrats  were  coming  so  manfully  to  his  support  in 
the  matter  of  the  Cuban  war,  that  he  did  not  like  to 
remove  a  democrat  from  office;  he  said  also  that  the 


274  EEMINISCENCES 

present  marshal's  commission  would  expire  in  about  a 
month,  and  when  that  happened  he  would  feel  at  liberty 
to  appoint  a  republican. 

Believing  that  the  endorsement  of  the  president  on 
Mr.  Collier's  letter  was  a  direction  to  the  attorney  gen 
eral  to  appoint  McGourin  when  the  present  incumbent's 
term  should  expire,  I  took  the  letter,  thanked  the  presi 
dent  very  warmly  for  granting  my  request,  and  carried 
the  letter  to  the  attorney  .general.  I  endeavored  to 
learn  from  the  latter  whether  the  endorsement  was  a 
direction  for  the  appointment  of  McGourin,  but  he 
evaded  a  direct  answer;  he  said  however  that  my  man 
should  have  the  appointment.  I  returned  home,  as 
confident  that  McGourin  would  get  the  appointment  as 
if  I  had  brought  it  with  me.  I  told  that  gentleman 
that  the  place  would  be  his  when  the  term  of  the  pres 
ent  incumbent  should  expire,  but  when  that  time  had 
elapsed  he  was  not  appointed,  and  he  became  very  much 
worried  and  excited  about  it.  Finally  I  persuaded 
John  E.  Stillman  to  go  to  Washington  and  see  what 
the  trouble  was.  It  turned  out  that  Long  had  been  de 
termined  that  McGourin  should  not  be  appointed  to 
the  office,  as  he  had  a  candidate  of  his  own  for  the 
place;  it  was  apparently  a  test  case  and  the  president 
appeared  unwilling  to  act  I  gave  Mr.  Stillman  a  letter 
to  the  president,  detailing  McGourin's  claims  to  the 
appointment,  but  he  still  refused  to  act.  Stillman  then 
went  to  Mark  Hanna,  who  was  a  friend  of  his.  Mr. 
Hanna  did  not  like  Long,  and  he  went  to  the  president 
and  secured  McGourin's  appointment,  apparently 
against  the  president's  inclination.  The  latter  was 
evidently  more  concerned  in  preparing  for  his  renomi- 
nation  for  the  presidency  than  in  keeping  his  word. 


GOVERNMENT   APPOINTMENTS  275 

There  is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  when  I  went  to  see 
the  president  and  gave  him  Mr.  Collier's  letter,  that  he 
intended  me  to  believe  that  he  would  appoint  Mr.  Mc- 
Gourin  as  I  had  requested,  and  that  he  was  acting  a 
falsehood.  This  incident  destroyed  all  my  confidence 
in  McKinley's  honesty  or  integrity,  but  he  was  too  much 
of  a  politician  to  keep  faith  with  those  whom  he  had 
used  to  obtain  his  high  position. 

Not  very  long  after  this  incident  the  postmaster  at 
Pensacola  died,  creating  a  vacancy  and  the  necessity 
for  a  presidential  appointment.  I  decided  that  a  young 
man  in  the  employ  of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Rail 
road  freight  office  would  make  a  good  postmaster,  and  I 
suggested  that  I  would  recommend  him  for  the  place. 
He  appeared  pleased  with  the  idea,  but  after  a  few 
days  declined  to  make  the  fight  for  the  office.  I  then 
selected  Mr.  Rix  Robinson  for  the  position,  when  I 
learned  that  the  man  whom  I  had  first  chosen  had 
entered  the  lists  for  the  appointment  supported  by  the 
influence  of  Long.  This  made  the  fight  very  interest 
ing  to  me.  I  persuaded  Mr.  Stillman,  the  collector  of 
the  port  of  Pensacola,  to  go  to  Washington  and  help  me 
secure  the  position  for  my  candidate.  We  called  upon 
the  president  and  he  assured  us  that  he  had  just  made 
an  appointment  but  could  not  remember  the  name  of 
the  party.  By  this  time  I  did  not  believe  all  that  Mc- 
Kinley  told  me.  He  stated  that  the  postmaster  general 
had  just  left  with  the  appointment;  so  we  proceeded  to 
hunt  up  Mr.  Smith,  and  found  him  in  the  general  post- 
office  building.  We  sent  our  cards  to  him  and  were 
promptly  admitted;  he  informed  us  that  no  one  had 
been  appointed  and  that  Mr.  Robinson's  name  was  well 
recommended.  We  saw  that  the  postmaster  general 


276  REMINISCENCES 

did  not  know  of  the  intrigue  of  John  G.  Long,  and 
when  we  informed  him  of  the  situation  he  invited  us 
to  call  on  him  the  next  afternoon,  and  said  that  in  the 
meantime  he  would  endeavor  to  have  the  appointment  of 
Mr.  Robinson  made.  The  next  day  we  called  upon  him 
as  per  agreement  and  he  informed  us  that  the  appoint 
ment  had  been  made  as  we  wanted  it  This  was  the 
last  occasion  I  had  to  ask  President  McKinley  for  any 
political  favors. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   NEGRO   QUESTION. 

Among  the  interesting  characters  in  Pensacola  was 
Colonel  Tarble.  He  came  to  this  town  in  the  spring 
of  1874,  the  same  year  I  did,  and  opened  a  ship  chan 
dlery  store  with  a  man  by  the  name  of  Hickey.  I  think 
they  drank  up  the  profits  of  the  store  and  some  of  the 
principal.  After  their  failure  the  colonel  opened  a 
livery  business.  He  had  a  keen  knowledge  of  horses; 
he  knew  more  of  a  horse  after  looking  him  over  ten 
minutes  than  I  would  after  using  him  a  year.  After 
that  he  went  into  politics  and  was  elected  mayor  of 
Pensacola,  and  about  1880  was  appointed  collector  of 
customs  for  the  port  Later  he  lost  his  official  positions 
and  went  to  the  city  of  Chicago,  just  prior  to  the  Colum 
bian  Exposition,  and  opened  a  very  fine  livery  stable  on 
the  north  side;  but  this  like  many  other  promising 
ventures  made  at  that  time  in  Chicago,  proved  a  failure. 

The  colonel  fell  in  with  some  real  estate  sharps  of 
Chicago  who  thought  an  honest  dollar  could  be  turned 
in  trading  Florida  lands  to  people  from  Wisconsin  and 
Michigan  who  wished  to  move  to  a  warmer  climate  and 
own  an  orange  grove.  I  met  the  colonel  one  day  when 
I  was  temporarily  in  Chicago  and  he  requested  me  to 
come  and  visit  him  at  his  office  on  Dearborn  Street, 
which  invitation  I  accepted,  and  we  talked  over  old 
times  in  Pensacola.  He  told  me  that  some  parties  in 
Lansing,  Michigan,  wished  to  trade  six  or  eight  houses 

277 


278  REMINISCENCES 

in  that  city  which  they  claimed  had  cost  them  $8,000 
each,  and  a  farm  of  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  for  a 
Florida  cattle  ranch.  He  said  that  Colonel  Ohipley 
would  sell  ten  thousand  acres  of  railroad  lands  on  the 
Perdido  River  for  seventy-five  cents  per  acre,  and  that 
if  I  could  buy  the  land  that  he  would  do  the  rest.  After 
I  had  become  "wise"  to  the  colonel's  game  I  told  him 
that  I  could  not  afford  to  go  into  any  such  transaction 
and  therefore  declined  the  proposition.  Later  the  colo 
nel  moved  back  to  Pensacola,  and  in  talking  with  him 
just  after  that  event,  in  1905,  I  happened  to  remember 
that  scheme,  and  I  asked  him  how  his  trade  with  the 
Michigan  parties  turned  out.  He  replied:  "I  did  not 
trade  with  them."  I  asked,  "How  did  that  happen  ?" 
"Well,"  he  said :  "I  went  to  Lansing  and  saw  the  houses 
and  the  farm,  and  they  were  good.  I  then  obtained  an 
option  on  the  land  from  Colonel  W.  D.  Chipley,  land 
commissioner  for  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad 
and  also  transportation  to  bring  them  down  and  take 
them  back.  I  brought  the  parties  to  Pensacola  to  see 
the  proposed  ranch,  which  was  adjacent  to  the  Perdido 
River.  I  quartered  them  at  the  Escambia  Hotel,  made 
them  somewhat  acquainted  with  the  town,  its  shipping 
and  its  bay,  from  all  of  which  they  received  a  favorable 
impression.  After  they  were  rested  from  their  trip 
I  hired  the  best  team  and  surrey  available  and  took 
them  out  to  view  the  land.  That  also  made  a  favorable 
impression  upon  the  gentlemen.  I  had  fixed  the  price 
of  the  land  at  $10  per  acre,  which  I  assured  them  I 
considered  very  cheap  considering  the  fertility  of  the 
soil.  The  parties  began  to  'warm'  up  and  develop  their 
scheme  for  raising  cattle ;  the  number  of  head  the  land 
would  support;  the  buildings  they  would  need  to  erect 


THE    NEGRO    QUESTION  279 

for  their  protection.  I  began  to  consider  the  deal  as 
consummated,  and  was  puzzling  myself  as  to  what  1 
should  do  with  the  fine  houses  in  Lansing.  One  of  the 
investigating  gentlemen  said  it  would  be  necessary  to 
have  a  house  built  on  the  ranch,  for  the  man  who  should 
take  charge.  Just  as  they  were  leaving  the  land  they 
saw  a  clearing  with  a  comfortable  farm  house  on  it, 
and  they  suggested  that  they  would  like  to  stop  there 
and  get  a  drink  of  water.  The  suggestion  was  com 
plied  with.  One  of  the  gentleman  visitors  concluded 
that  this  particular  house  would  be  a  desirable  one  for 
their  ranchman,  and  asked  the  owner  how  long  he  had 
lived  there  and  how  much  land  he  owned.  The  man 
replied  that  he  had  homesteaded  his  farm,  which 
comprised  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  that  he 
had  lived  there  five  years.  The  gentleman  next  asked 
him  what  he  would  sell  it  for,  and  received  from  the 
farmer  the  reply  that  he  wanted  to  sell  mighty  bad  and 
go  to  Choctawhatchee  where  his  wife's  people  lived  and 
where  he  had  been  offered  a  good  chance  to  work.  'What 
will  you  take  for  your  place?'  asked  the  newcomer. 
'Well/  said  the  rancher,  'it's  a  good  ways  up  there,  and 
if  you'll  buy  me  out — '  'What  have  you?'  was  the 
question.  'Well,  I  have  five  cows,  forty  sheep,  one 
hundred  bushels  of  corn  in  the  crib,  and  that  horse 
which  you  see  there  tied  to  the  fence  (Colonel  Tarble 
told  me  it  was  worth  a  good  hundred  dollars)  and  the 
furniture  in  the  house,  all  except  my  wife's  feather  bed, 
which  she  wants  to  take  with  her — I'll  sell  you  the 
whole  thing  as  it  stands  for  $400.'  Silence  took  posses 
sion  of  the  party  concluded  Colonel  Tarble,  until 
I  suggested  that  we  return  to  town.  Little  conversation 
occurred  on  the  ride  back.  Arriving  at  the  hotel,  I 


280  EEMINISCENCES 

asked  the  parties  if  they  wished  to  return  to  Chicago 
that  night,  and  received  the  reply  that  the  sooner  they 
got  out  of  the  town  the  better  for  them.  There's  many  a 
slip  between  the  cup  and  the  lip,"  mused  the  colonel. 

After  a  residence  of  some  thirty-three  years  in 
Florida  I  am  convinced  that  it  possesses  one  of  the 
pleasantest  climates  in  the  United  States.  I  think  it 
would  be  approximately  correct  to  say  that  out  of  the 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days  in  the  year,  that 
three  hundred  may  be  counted  upon  for  pleasant 
weather,  and  the  remaining  sixty-five  days  would  not 
be  all  uncomfortable ;  for  cold  and  disagreeable  weather 
when  it  does  come,  is  of  short  duration,  seldom  exceed 
ing  three  days  at  one  time. 

This  mild  climate  may  in  a  measure  be  the  reason 
why  matters  move  a  little  slow  in  Florida,  The  rail 
roads  are  usually  behind  time  with  their  trains,  the 
helper  is  always  a  little  late,  and  things  don't  happen 
at  the  time  calculated,  but  a  little  later.  It  is  no  un 
common  thing  for  local  trains  to  halt  almost  anywhere 
to  accommodate  its  patrons.  On  a  certain  occasion 
our  train  waited  a  considerable  time  before  the  gate 
of  a  pretentious  farm  house.  It  was  supposed  that  some 
person  of  importance  was  the  cause,  and  when  a  large 
and  impressive  woman  came  down  the  walk  followed 
by  an  obsequious  retinue  of  darkies,  the  passengers  con 
sidered  that  the  delay  was  justifiable.  When  the  lady 
in  the  case  was  seated,  she  informed  some  of  her  ac 
quaintances  on  board  that  she  was  on  her  way  to  town 
with  several  dozen  eggs;  that  she  lacked  but  one  to 
complete  the  number  she  was  to  deliver ;  she  was  aware 
that  one  of  the  hens  was  on  a  nest  and  she  simply  had  to 
keep  the  train  waiting  until  she  could  secure  that  egg. 


THE    NEGKO    QUESTION  281 

Another  time  an  obliging  conductor  hearing  a  young 
lady  passenger  exclaim  in  delight  over  the  masses  of 
purple  flag  which  bordered  the  swamp,  stopped  the  train 
and  secured  a  generous  supply  of  the  iris,  which  cer 
tainly  pleased  the  girl,  and  none  of  the  passengers  was 
heard  to  find  fault, 

In  this  part  of  the  country,  when  one  gives  his  serv 
ant  orders  to  be  on  hand  at  a  certain  hour  he  finds  that 
he  will  be  behind  time  even  if  he  does  not  fail  to  put 
in  an  appearance  altogether.  When  I  first  went  to 
Florida  there  was  many  an  old  "mammy"  and  many 
an  old  "uncle,"  relics  of  the  time  "befor'  de  wah,"  and 
these  were  the  most  delightful  servants  that  I  have  ever 
known. 

The  domestic  servants  at  my  home  had  quarters  and 
kitchens  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the  kouse,  and  it 
is  one  of  the  pictures  clear  in  my  memory  of  sitting  at 
the  breakfast  table  and  looking  out  of  the  window  at 
the  file  of  darkies  bringing  in  the  breakfast.  A  stout 
middle-aged  negress  would  head  the  line  bearing  the 
chief  dish,  and  behind  her  in  order  of  size  followed  the 
others,  down  to  the  little  pickaninnies  who  came  for  an 
open  eyed  stare  into  the  room  where  the  quality  were 
waiting.  But  such  servants  are  gone;  now  most  of 
them  sleep  the  long  sleep  with  their  old  masters,  their 
progeny,  however,  live  without  care  or  responsibility. 
The  young  negro  of  today  comes  and  goes  where  he 
listeth;  he  is  useless  to  his  employer  and  to  himself; 
he  simply  vegetates.  What  the  future  may  have  in 
store  for  these  thoughtless  creatures  time  alone  can 
disclose.  When  attending  college  at  Mt  Pleasant,  Iowa, 
the  Literary  and  Debating  Club  connected  with  our 
law  class,  had  a  long  struggle  over  the  subject  "Ke- 


282  EEMINISCENCES 

solved  that  the  whole  human  race  did  not  originate  from 
one  pair."  I  have  detailed  this  in  a  preceding  chapter 
but  the  arguments  apply  to  the  negro  question.  I 
chose  the  affirmative  and  was  a  leading  disputant  on 
that  side.  This  was  in  1858,  when  the  whole  country 
was  racked  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill.  I  gave  the 
subject  all  the  research  possible  in  that  literary  center, 
and  the  question  was  argued  by  the  most  brilliant  men 
in  that  city,  including  Senator  Harlan,  Henry  Clay 
Dean  and  numerous  lawyers  and  divines.  I  became 
thoroughly  convinced  that  the  balance  of  authority  and 
evidence  was  in  favor  of  the  contention.  I  believe  that 
the  mulatto  is  a  hybrid,  being  a  cross  which  degener 
ates  and  devitalizes,  and  that  the  mixture  of  the  races 
has  the  effect  to  lessen  the  capacities  of  the  Caucasian 
and  does  not  advance  the  negro  race. 

In  his  natural  state  the  negro  is  invested  with  singu 
lar  temperamental  endowments,  which  are  very  different 
from  those  of  the  Caucasian.  For  one  thing  he  appears 
to  be  devoid  of  all  regard  or  estimation  of  truth,  a 
virtue  highly  esteemed  by  the  white  race.  I  never  knew 
a  negro  who  would  not  lie,  even  when  unnecessary. 
I  have  known  among  them,  however,  many  who  were 
magnetic  and  brilliant  orators,  though  the  majority  use 
a  few  high  sounding  phrases  and  play  upon  popular 
ideas.  When  control  over  the  negro  is  removed  he  is 
a  most  vain  and  insolent  animal  and  I  feel  sure  that  his 
future  in  the  United  States  will  be  one  of  bloodshed, 
crime  and  sacrifice  of  life.  That  the  negro  will  live 
peaceably  and  enjoy  even  equality  with  the  whites,  I 
do  not  believe.  I  do  not  adopt  this  view  through  any 
pessimistic  fear  that  the  white  race  will  ever  treat  the 
negro  unfairly,  but  I  do  not  believe  that  the  black  man 


THE    NEGRO    QUESTION 

will  ever  be  content  to  live  simply  in  political  equality 
with  the  whites.  His  over-weening  egotism  will  not 
allow  him  to  do  so.  I  am  not  possessed  of  a  dislike  for 
the  negro  on  account  of  his  color,  but  my  estimate  of  him 
is  due  to  his  character  and  habits,  therefore  I  fear  for 
the  future.  The  people  of  the  south  may  keep  him 
under  control  for  a  limited  number  of  years,  but  his 
innate  egotism  will  eventually  break  all  control,  and 
then  will  come  the  issue.  How  it  will  come,  when  it 
will  come,  none  can  tell,  nor  what  the  end  will  be. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  SUCCESSION   OF  ROOSEVELT. 

After  the  assassination  of  President  McKinley  we 
read  a  great  deal  in  the  newspapers  as  to  what  Roose 
velt  would  then  do,  whether  he  would  act  as  substitute 
to  the  dead  president,  and  do  those  things  which  Mc 
Kinley  would  have  done  had  he  lived,  or  follow  plans 
of  his  own. 

The  republican  machine  in  Florida,  by  John  Eagan's 
treachery,  had  been  turned  over  to  the  friends  of 
Morton,  and  upon  the  death  of  John  G.  Long,  J.  N. 
Coombs  of  Apalachicola  had  been  elected  to  the  chair 
manship  of  the  state  republican  committee  and  it  was 
understood  that  he  was  very  solid  with  Roosevelt.  The 
republican  office  holders  in  this  part  of  the  state  had 
been  reappointed  by  Roosevelt  with  the  exception  of 
Mr.  McGourin;  he  obtained  recommendations  from  all 
local  republicans,  including  myself,  and  requests  for 
his  reappointment  to  his  present  office;  then  he  went  to 
Washington  to  present  these  to  Roosevelt  and  solicit  a 
reappointment.  I  was  aware  however  that  he  did  not 
have  the  support  of  the  state  republican  machine.  After 
a  few  days  in  Washington,  he  telegraphed  me  to  meet 
him  there.  Upon  my  arrival  I  found  that  W.  H. 
Northrup  had  been  appointed  to  the  office  of  United 
States  marshal  by  the  president,  and  that  his  name  had 
been  sent  to  the  senate  for  confirmation,  but  that  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  Mr.  Shaw,  had  prevailed 

'284 


THE  SUCCESSION  OF  EOOSEVELT         285 

upon  the  president  to  hold  up  the  nomination  for  one 
week  in  order  to  give  me  time  to  arrive  and  present 
Mr.  McGourin' s  claims  to  the  office.  Upon  my  reaching 
Washington,  McGourin  took  me  over  to  see  the  secre 
tary.  After  a  short  chat,  I  saw  that  he  was  anxious 
for  McGourin's  appointment,  and  I  learned  that  it  was 
through  his  influence  that  the  nomination  of  Northrup 
had  been  held  up  in  the  senate.  After  we  left  the 
secretary's  room  McGourin  asked  me  to  go  back  and 
urge  the  secretary  to  make  an  application  to  the  presi 
dent  to  extend  the  time  for  which  he  had  deferred 
action  on  Northrup's  appointment.  I  returned  to  the 
office  and  repeated  the  request  to  the  secretary,  but  Mr. 
Shaw  feared  he  would  not  be  successful,  saying  that  the 
last  time  he  had  talked  with  the  president,  he  thought 
"the  hoss's  eyes  were  sot"  and  that  if  he  interfered 
again  in  the  matter  that  he  might  get  kicked.  The  next 
day  McGourin  and  I  went  over  to  see  the  president.  The 
equipment  of  the  rooms  had  been  entirely  changed  since 
the  time  of  McKinley.  Instead  of  fat,  sleek  negro 
attendants  there  were  men  from  the  "wild  and  woolly 
west"  with  the  legs  of  their  trousers  tucked  into  their 
boots,  and  the  free  and  easy  manners  of  "rough  riders" 
substituted  in  their  places.  We  sent  in  our  cards  and 
after  waiting  for  some  time  were  informed  that  the 
president  would  see  me  but  no  one  else.  I  was  ushered 
into  his  office  and  informed  that  the  president  was  then 
busy.  After  another  wait  of  perhaps  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  a  gentleman  entered  the  room  with  rapid  strides, 
took  me  by  the  hand  and  called  me  by  name.  He  com 
menced  to  talk  about  Florida  matters,  and  Mr.  Coombs 
in  particular.  He  asked  me  if  that  gentleman  was  not 
a  wealthy  lumberman,  if  he  was  not  the  president  of 


286  REMINISCENCES 

a  bank  at  Apalachicola,  a  prominent  and  sound  repub 
lican,  etc.  I  saw  that  the  president  had  rather  inflated 
ideas  of  Mr.  Coombs'  importance,  and  that  it  would  be 
necessary  for  me  to  be  very  careful  what  I  said.  He 
inquired  if  Coombs  was  not  at  one  time  a  candidate  for 
governor  of  Florida.  I  then  recollected  that  while  Mc- 
Kinley  was  president,  John  G.  Long  had  interviewed 
me  once  when  I  was  in  Jacksonville,  and  had  asked  me 
to  take  the  republican  nomination  for  governor  of 
Florida;  that  I  had  looked  at  him  to  see  whether  he 
took  me  to  be  a  fool,  or  was  making  fun  of  me ;  but  he 
convinced  me  that  he  was  in  earnest  and  endeavored  to 
persuade  me  that  a  republican  might  be  elected  gover 
nor  of  the  state.  Of  course  I  knew  that  there  was  no 
chance  of  that,  and  told  Mr.  Long  so.  When  the  presi 
dent  mentioned  that  Coombs  was  the  republican  candi 
date  for  governor,  I  remembered  that  he  had  accepted 
the  nomination  and  had  made  the  contest,  had  received 
a  few  votes,  and  I  now  became  aware  that  he  had  been 
posing  before  Roosevelt  as  a  defeated  republican  candi 
date  for  that  office. 

After  a  little  preliminary  talk  Mr.  McGourin's  case 
was  introduced  as  a  subject  of  conversation.  The  presi 
dent  admitted  that  he  had  a  clean  record  and  was  a 
good  officer.  I  then  suggested  that  I  did  not  think  he 
could  afford  to  appoint  so  disreputable  a  man  as  North- 
rup  to  so  important  a  position.  The  president  appeared 
to  get  excited  in  a  moment ;  he  assured  me  that  he  could 
do  anything  he  chose;  that  I  had  no  right  to  call 
Northrup  disreputable,  and  asked  of  what  crimes  he 
had  been  convicted.  I  replied  that  the  fact  of  his 
being  disreputable  did  not  imply  that  he  had  been  con 
victed  of  any  crime.  "Yes  it  does,"  said  the  president. 


THE   SUCCESSION   OF   ROOSEVELT  287 

I  told  him  that  I  did  not  so  understand  the  word  and 
referred  him  to  Webster's  dictionary  to  settle  the  ques 
tion.  I  saw  that  the  conversation  was  becoming  some 
what  acrimonious,  and  fearing  it  might  not  be  to  the 
advantage  of  McGourin  I  thought  it  better  not  to  ex 
tend  it.  The  president  asked  me  to  make  specific  charges 
against  Northrup  and  he  would  investigate  them  thor 
oughly.  I  said  I  would  do  so,  but  after  leaving  the 
president  concluded  that  from  the  temper  he  was  in  it 
would  be  useless;  and  furthermore  I  had  no  desire  to 
injure  JSTorthrup,  but  only  to  help  Mr.  McGourin. 

We  concluded  that  as  a  last  resort  we  would  go 
and  see  Senator  Hanna.  This  gentleman  appeared  to 
be  interested  in  the  case;  said  he  was  invited  to  dine 
with  the  president  that  evening,  and  would  carefully 
introduce  the  subject.  The  next  day  we  again  saw 
Senator  Hanna,  who  gave  us  some  details  of  his  con 
versation  with  the  president  the  night  before.  He 
said  the  president  was  angry  with  me,  and  that  I  could 
do  nothing  with  him  to  help  McGourin.  He  advised  me 
to  go  home,  and  said  he  would  attend  to  the  case  and  get 
McGourin  appointed  if  possible,  which  he  did  in  a 
day  or  two. 

This  was  my  last  effort  in  soliciting  the  appointment 
of  others  to  federal  offices.  I  had  never  asked  any 
thing  for  myself,  though  I  think  I  could  have  had 
almost  any  federal  office  in  the  state,  and  sometimes 
when  successful  for  others  I  received  few  thanks  from 
the  beneficiaries. 

From  my  experience  among  northern  republicans  I 
had  gained  the  impression  that  all  the  republicans  in 
the  south  were  looked  upon  alike ;  that  we  were  thought 
to  belong  to  that  party  only  for  the  purpose  of  securing 


288  REMINISCENCES 

office,  and  that,  very  few,  if  any,  were  thought  to  be 
republicans  from  principle.  They  apparently  knew 
little  of  the  ostracism  endured  by  the  white  republicans 
in  the  south.  I  remember  one  day  in  the  eighties  that 
Mr.  Brent  who  was  the  leading  banker  in  Pensacola, 
said  to  me :  "Mr.  Skinner,  if  you  will  become  a  demo 
crat,  we  will  send  you  to  congress."  I  was  made  to 
feel  in  a  groat  many  ways  what  it  cost  me  to  hold  to 
the  republican  party;  and  I  also  presume  that  when  I 
was  associating  witk  northern  republicans  I  was  thought 
by  them  to  bo  a  "carpet-bagger." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

MT.    MORGAN    MINE. 

After  the  world's  fair  in  Chicago  I  received  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Godfrey  saying  that  he  had  discovered  a 
very  rich  gold  mine  near  Zacatecas,  Mexico,  and  asked 
if  I  would  join  him  in  buying  it.  I  sent  him  $2,500 
to  pay  for  my  half,  but  later  I  had  word  from  him 
that  some  parties  in  the  City  of  Mexico  had  bought  the 
mine  away  from  us.  After  waiting  a  while  I  wrote  him 
to  return  the  money  I  had  sent  him,  but  he  replied  that 
he  had  bought  another  mine  with  the  money  and  asked 
me  to  sanction  the  purchase.  This  was  called  the  Mt. 
Morgan  Mine.  I  concluded  that  I  would  go  to  Zaca- 
tecas  and  see  it  for  myself.  I  found  it  to  be  a  well 
developed  fissure  vein  averaging  about  two  and  a  half 
feet  in  thickness,  having  been  explored  by  Mexicans 
for  about  two  hundred  feet  in  length  and  about  sixty 
feet  in  depth.  Mr.  Godfrey  assured  me  that  the 
average  quartz  in  the  vein  carried  from  two  to  three 
ounces  of  gold  per  ton.  I  liked  this  mine  better  than 
the  one  he  had  first  selected.  I  learned  that  a  party 
by  the  name  of  Ayton,  a  mining  engineer  in  charge  of 
the  celebrated  Bote  mine  of  Zacatecas,  had  sold  the  Mt. 
Morgan  Mine  to  Godfrey,  retaining  five  of  the  twenty- 
four  shares  into  which  the  Mexican  government  divided 
a  mine.  I  was  not  pleased  with  this  situation  of  affairs, 
and  told  Mr.  Godfrey  that  I  thought  that  he  should  buy 
Mr.  Ayton  out.  I  returned  home  with  the  understand- 


290  REMINISCENCES 

ing  that  the  mine  was  to  be  sunk  deeper  on  the  vein 
and  kept  working.  I  received  a  report  from  him  that 
richer  ore  was  found  as  they  went  down,  and  that 
Ayton  had  agreed  to  sell  his  shares  to  us  for  $8,000. 
Godfrey  stated  that  if  I  was  willing  to  pay  half  of  the 
$8,000  that  he  would  pay  the  other  half,  and  I  was  to 
place  $4,000  to  his  credit  in  New  York  City  to  con 
summate  the  deal.  I  did  this  and  was  notified  by  Mr. 
Godfrey  that  he  had  received  the  deed  of  the  five  shares 
from  Mr.  Ayton.  I  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Mr. 
Godfrey  that  I  would  furnish  $100  per  month  for  the 
purpose  of  sinking  a  working  shaft  on  the  center  of  the 
mine,  and  Godfrey  agreed  to  furnish  an  equal  amount 
for  the  same  purpose.  I  received  monthly  reports  from 
him  showing  the  depth  the  mine  was  sunk  during  the 
month,  the  size  of  the  vein,  the  amount  of  gold  the  ore 
carried ;  all  of  which  for  a  while  was  very  satisfactory. 

I  think  it  was  in  the  winter  of  1894-5  that  my  wife 
and  myself  went  down  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  stopping 
on  our  way  at  the  city  of  Zacatecas.  At  this  time  the 
reports  of  Godfrey  showed  that  the  ore  ran  from  three 
to  four  ounces  of  gold  per  ton.  I  visited  the  mine, 
and  found  that  Godfrey  had  erected  an  adobe  house 
for  the  workmen  to  live  in,  also  that  there  was  quite  a 
lot  of  ore  lying  on  the  dump;  some  of  it  according  to 
Godfrey's  report  was  very  rich ;  all  of  the  ore  he  claimed 
would  run  two  ounces  of  gold  per  ton,  and  some  smaller 
piles  would  run  a  great  deal  more. 

When  we  started  for  the  mine,  Mr.  Godfrey  took 
along  a  mortar,  pestle  and  a  horn  spoon.  He  requested 
me  to  select  any  piece  I  wished  from  the  piles  each 
containing  from  a  half  ton  to  a  ton  of  ore.  The  pile  of 
small  pieces,  contained  none  which  weighed  more  than 


MT.  MOEGAN  MINE  291 

a  pound.  The  ore  I  selected  he  put  into  the  mortar  and 
had  the  workman  pulverize  it  with  the  pestle;  then 
turned  this  into  the  horn  spoon,  poured  on  water  and 
washed  off  the  dirt,  and  the  bottom  of  the  spoon  was 
covered  with  what  he  assured  me  were  grains  of  gold. 
I  picked  out  several  pieces  of  ore  which  were  tested  in 
the  same  way,  which  proved  them  all  to  be  very  rich. 
I  left  the  mine  thinking  we  had  a  valuable  piece  of 
property,  and  I  went  on  my  way  to  the  City  of  Mexico 
with  my  wife,  where  we  spent  a  very  pleasant  time 
sight-seeing. 

After  staying  in  the  city  as  long  as  we  wished  we 
started  on  our  return,  leaving  the  train  to  remain  over 
night  at  Silao.  In  the  morning  we  went  to  Guadalajara, 
which  is  situated  on  a  branch  of  the  main  line  of  the 
Mexican  Central  Railroad.  We  passed  Lake  Chapala, 
and  through  a  very  fine  region  of  agricultural  land.  We 
found  Guadalajara  which  is  in  the  state  of  Jalisco  to 
be  a  very  interesting  city,  it  is  I  believe  second  in  size 
in  the  republic,  and  has  a  population  of  over  one  hun 
dred  thousand.  It  is  a  beautiful  place,  has  many  shade 
trees,  and  some  fine  public  buildings,  the  finest  of 
which  is  the  cathedral.  We  spent  an  afternoon  in  view 
ing  this  edifice,  and  by  means  of  a  liberal  tip  induced 
one  of  the  priests  to  show  us  the  riches  of  the  church ; 
among  other  treasures  being  costly  cloth  of  gold  for 
vestments,  finer  than  any  we  had  seen  in  Europe.  We 
took  a  carriage  ride  on  the  paseo,  a  fashionable  drive 
running  along  the  river  San  Juan,  and  heard  a  good 
band  playing  in  the  park.  The  city  has  excellent  schools 
and  it  is  said  that  west  of  Guadalajara  is  the  richest 
agricultural  district  and  grazing  land  in  the  republic. 
Colima,  the  only  active  volcano  in  North  America  is 


292  BEMINISCENCES 

situated  here.  In  Guadalajara  there  is  a  branch  of  the 
Battle  Creek  (Michigan)  Sanitarium,  which  is  said  to 
be  quite  prosperous. 

On  our  return  we  stopped  where  once  had  been  the 
Falls  of  Juanacatlan,  but  a  power  plant  furnishing 
electricity  for  the  lighting  of  Guadalajara,  and  for  other 
purposes,  used  the  water  which  had  formerly  made  the 
falls.  We  stopped  on  our  return  trip  at  Aguas  Calientes 
over  night,  took  a  bath  at  the  celebrated  hot  springs,  and 
telegraphed  in  the  morning  to  Godfrey  at  Zacatecas 
to  meet  our  train  on  its  arrival  at  that  place,  which  he 
did  and  went  with  us  as  far  as  Calera ;  from  there  he 
returned  to  Zacatecas.  We  stopped  at  Calera  over  night 
and  in  the  morning  took  the  train  for  home  by  way  of 
Torreon  and  Eagle  Pass. 

After  this  visit  and  seeing  the  ore  I  supposed  taken 
from  the  mine,  I  wrote  Mr.  Godfrey  that  I  thought  the 
mine  could  and  should  pay  its  own  way.  I  advised 
him  to  ship  and  sell  a  carload  of  ore  and  use  the  money 
to  develop  it  farther.  I  had  induced  my  nephew  Bost- 
wick  Knapp  of  Chicago  to  study  Spanish  so  that  he 
could  talk  and  write  it  a  little,  telling  him  that  some 
time  I  would  take  him  to  the  land  of  the  Aztecs  with 
me.  I  also  wrote  Mr.  Godfrey  that  I  was  not  willing 
to  operate  the  mine  longer  as  a  partnership. 

In  the  spring  I  went  to  Chicago.  I  had  obtained 
Godfrey's  consent  to  incorporate  the  mine,  and  I  had 
proceeded  to  have  it  done  under  the  laws  of  the  state 
of  Illinois.  It  was  necessary  to  have  three  stockholders 
and  three  directors.  I  gave  my  wife  a  part  of  my  stock, 
so  as  to  qualify  her  to  be  a  director.  When  I  sent  the 
papers  to  Godfrey  for  his  signature  he  refused  to  sign 
them  claiming  that  I  wished  to  get  control  of  the  mine 


MT.   MORGAN  MINE  293 

into  my  own  hands.  I  proposed  that  he  give  Mr.  Guen- 
ther  a  share  of  his  stock  and  make  him  a  director,  but 
nothing  I  could  suggest  met  his  approval.  He  insisted 
upon  selling  me  a  part  of  his  stock  for  $10,000.  When  I 
suggested  to  him  that  he  sell  a  carload  of  ore  and  get 
money,  he  wrote  me  that  he  was  ailing,  something  was 
the  matter  with  his  kidneys,  that  he  would  have  to 
leave  Zacatecas  and  go  to  the  City  of  Mexico  for  treat 
ment,  that  he  did  not  know  as  he  should  ever  be  able  to 
work  again.  The  five  shares  bought  from  Ayton  were 
still  in  Godf rey's  name.  I  had  become  convinced  of  the 
great  value  of  the  mine  after  seeing  the  large  quantities 
of  ore  piled  up  on  the  dump,  and  I  proposed  to  my 
nephew  that  we  go  to  Zacatecas  and  see  what  we  could 
learn.  The  insurance  company  by  which  my  nephew 
was  employed,  gave  him  each  year  a  two  weeks'  vaca 
tion,  and  he  concluded  to  extend  this  into  a  three  weeks' 
trip  to  Mexico.  We  were  to  visit  the  mine  at  Zacatecas 
and  see  Mr.  Godfrey  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  and  try 
and  learn  what  we  could  about  both. 

We  left  Chicago  about  the  middle  of  July.  I  had 
the  papers  with  me  for  the  incorporation  of  the  mine. 
We  bought  the  tickets  via  Louisville  &  Nashville  Rail 
road  to  New  Orleans,  to  San  Antonio  via  the  Southern 
Pacific,  from  there  to  the  City  of  Mexico  over  the  Mexi 
can  National  and  to  return  from  that  city  by  way  of 
the  Mexican  Central  Railway  to  Torreon,  thence  by  the 
International  Railroad  to  Eagle  Pass.  From  the  latter 
point  we  would  return  as  we  went,  via  San  Antonio, 
New  Orleans  and  Nashville  to  Chicago.  Our  journey 
down  was  uneventful,  but  it  was  in  the  heat  of  a  tropi 
cal  summer.  It  was  very  rainy  while  passing  through 
western  Louisiana  and  eastern  Texas.  In  going  over 


294:  EEMINISCENCES 

the  mountains  in  Mexico  we  saw  a  remarkable  appear 
ance  in  the  sky,  resembling  electric  lights.  On  the 
fringe  of  large  clouds  covering  the  mountains  as  we 
passed  along  was  an  exhibition  apparently  of  electricity 
such  as  I  had  never  seen  before  in  any  country.  It  was 
simply  gorgeous  in  appearance  and  the  grandest  and 
most  brilliant  display  of  lightning  that  it  was  ever  my 
good  fortune  to  witness. 

I  had  written  Mr.  Godfrey  when  I  should  arrive  and 
I  expected  that  he  would  be  at  the  depot  to  meet  me  on 
my  arrival  in  the  city ;  but  he  did  not  appear.  We  went 
to  the  Iturbide  Hotel.  I  expected  to  find  Mr.  Godfrey 
in  a  bad  state  of  health,  as  he  had  written  me  to  that 
effect,  but  when  I  found  him  he  appeared  in  excellent 
health,  and  apparently  had  not  been  ill.  It  had  taken 
me  a  couple  of  days  to  locate  him.  He  was  in  a  very 
irritable  state  of  mind,  and  was  very  indignant  with  me 
for  trying  to  get  control  of  the  mine,  and  he  would  do 
nothing  towards  incorporating  it,  insisting  that  he  must 
sell  me  his  half  of  the  stock  for  $10,000  cash.  I  was 
not  disposed  to  put  any  more  money  into  the  mine  by 
the  purchase  of  his  interest,  so  refused  to  meet  this 
proposition.  I  requested  him  to  deed  me  one-half  of 
the  five  shares  he  had  bought  of  Ay  ton,  on  joint  account 
and  he  did  so.  I  wished  him  to  go  to  Zacatecas  with  us 
on  our  return,  but  he  declined.  After  this  we  visited 
the  principal  points  of  interest  in  the  City  of  Mexico. 
We  stopped  at  the  Iturbide  Hotel,  once  the  residence 
of  Iturbide  the  first  and  last  native  born  emperor  of 
Mexico,  who  occupied  this  palace  for  the  one  brief  year 
of  his  supremacy,  from  March,  1822  to  March,  1823, 
during  which  time  he  was  proclaimed  Emperor  under 
the  title  of  Augustin  I.  He  was  afterwards  banished 


MT.  MOEGAN  MOE  295 

through  the  influence  of  General  Santa  Ana,  but  he 
returned,  was  arrested  and  shot  July  19,  1824. 

We  visited  Chapultepee  on  its  hills  of  porphyry,  a 
combination  "White  House"  and  "West  Point."  From 
the  hill  we  could  look  down  on  four  battle  fields  of  the 
Mexican- American  war:  Contreras,  Churubusco, 
Molino  del  Key  and  Chapultepec.  There  were  about 
three  hundred  cadets  quartered  in  the  north  end  of  the 
palace.  South  and  east  of  Chapultepec  Hill  is  a  fine 
grove  of  cypress  trees.  They  are  the  only  large  trees  I 
have  ever  seen  in  the  Republic.  One  of  them  is  said  to 
have  a  circumference  of  forty  feet 

We  visited  Tacubaya,  a  city  with  a  fascinating  mix 
ture  of  ancient  and  modern  civilization.  We  saw  the 
floating  gardens,  or  Islands  on  the  Viga  Canal,  each 
of  which  is  about  two  hundred  feet  in  length  and  per 
haps  fifteen  in  width.  They  are  very  fertile  and  are 
watered  in  a  curious  manner.  The  laborer  beats  the 
water  with  an  oar  and  splashes  it  over  the  soil. 

After  visiting  the  principal  points  of  interest  in  the 
City  of  Mexico  we  started  on  our  homeward  journey. 
We  stopped  at  Silao  and  concluded  to  make  a  visit  to 
Guanajuato,  situated  in  a  narrow  canyon  about  seven 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  Most  of  the  streets  are 
too  narrow  for  wheeled  vehicles.  The  Mexican  Central 
Railway  has  a  branch  running  between  the  city  and 
Silao,  which  is  about  twenty  miles  in  length.  From 
there  we  were  transferred  to  a  street  car,  drawn  by 
mules,  which  took  us  to  Guanajuato.  It  is  a  city  of 
many  handsome  buildings,  public  and  private,  includ 
ing  a  new  theater,  just  completed  at  the  time  we  were 
there;  it  was  said  to  have  cost  a  million  dollars.  We 
were  unable  to  view  the  interior  as  the  building  was 


296  EEMINISCENCES 

closed.  The  mines  of  Guanajuato  are  the  richest  in  the 
republic,  one  of  which  in  forty  years  having  yielded  an 
annual  profit  of  three  million  dollars. 

We  heard  of  a  burial  place  while  there  which  was 
entirely  different  from  anything  I  had  ever  seen.  It 
was  three  miles  from  the  city,  so  we  secured  burros  and 
rode  out  there.  The  cemetery  was  situated  on  top  of 
a "  round  hill  and  consisted  of  a  building  which  en 
closed  four  sides  of  perhaps  an  acre  or  more.  In  the 
walls  of  this  building  are  vaults  of  sufficient  size  to 
introduce  a  coffin;  these  spaces  run  in  tiers,  one  above 
another.  When  the  space  is  filled,  the  opening  will 
be  sealed.  These  vaults  are  rented  for  a  certain  number 
of  years,  and  when  the  term  has  expired,  if  the  lease  is 
not  renewed,  the  body  is  removed  from  the  vault  and 
stored  in  the  crypt  below;  the  empty  vault  can  then  be 
leased  for  another  corpse.  The  entire  mountain  upon 
which  Guanajuato  is  built  is  of  solid  rock,  and  it  re 
quired  a  great  deal  of  work  to  dig  a  grave,  hence  the 
necessity  for  the  kind  of  burial  which  I  have  described. 
I  do  not  know  of  a  similar  method  being  used  anywhere 
else. 

When  we  had  completed  our  sight-seeing  in  this 
vicinity,  we  continued  on  our  journey  to  Zacatecas.  On 
reaching  the  hotel  there,  I  called  for  a  particular  room, 
and  was  informed  that  it  had  been  reserved  for  Mr. 
Godfrey,  that  he  had  written  the  landlord  to  keep  it 
for  him,  and  therefore  his  arrival  had  been  expected  for 
many  days.  This  surprised  me  as  he  had  refused  my 
invitation  to  accompany  us  here. 

The  next  morning  we  procured  some  horses  and  rode 
out  to  the  mine.  I  found  that  the  entrance  to  it  harl 
been  closed,  having  been  filled  with  broken  stone,  and 


MT.  MOBGAN  MINE  297, 

the  windlass  had  been  removed.  We  were  practically 
barred  from  any  examination  of  it;  therefore  we  came 
on  home,  the  trip  having  proved  wholly  futile.  Mr. 
Godfrey  did  not  appear  at  Zacatecas  while  we  were 
there. 

The  next  year  I  learned  that  Arthur  C.  Payne,  a 
mining  engineer  whom  I  had  met  on  a  previous  trip, 
was  in  the  employ  of  a  sash  and  door  firm  at  Oshkosh, 
Wisconsin,  and  I  wrote  him  of  the  trouble  I  had  had  in 
regard  to  the  Mount  Morgan  Mine,  and  asked  him  if 
he  would  meet  me  in  Chicago.  He  complied  and  came 
to  my  residence  and  I  explained  the  situation  to  him. 
By  this  time  I  wanted  some  other  opinion  than  Mr. 
Godfrey's  as  to  the  value  of  the  mine  and  I  believed 
Mr.  Payne  to  be  an  honest  man,  and  thoroughly  com 
petent,  because  he  had  had  large  experience  in  Mexico. 
I  asked  him  what  he  would  charge  to  go  to  Zacatecas, 
examine  the  Mount  Morgan  Mine,  determine  what  the 
vein  carried  in  gold  and  silver,  and  report  officially. 
He  replied  that  he  should  want  $1,000.  This  was  more 
than  I  felt  like  paying,  and  so  the  matter  ended,  for  the 
time.  It  was  in  the  winter  of  1896,  however,  that 
I  received  a  letter  from  him  stating  that  he  was  going 
to  Valardena  to  take  charge  of  some  mines  bought  by 
parties  in  Oshkosh  and  that  he  would  examine  and  re 
port  on  the  Mount  Morgan  Mine  for  $300,  the  sum 
which  I  had  previously  offered  him.  I  wrote  to  Mr. 
Payne  that  I  wished  him  to  determine  how  much  gold 
and  silver  per  ton,  the  vein  contained.  He  went  as 
agreed  and  examined  the  mine,  then  wrote  me  to  the 
following  effect:  That  he  did  not  like  Mr.  Godfrey 
and  that  he  would  give  no  statement  which  would  be 
of  benefit  to  that  gentleman,  but  if  the  examination  was 


298  REMINISCENCES 

to  be  for  my  individual  benefit,  that  he  would  gladly 
make  it.  I  assured  him  that  the  matter  was  solely  for 
my  interest ;  then  he  made  a  very  flattering  report.  He 
corroborated  all  the  statements  which  Godfrey  had 
made,  and  this  made  me  very  anxious  to  get  the  mine 
into  more  satisfactory  working  condition.  I  asked  Mr. 
Payne  to  learn  from  Godfrey  what  he  would  take  for 
h-L  share  of  the  mine.  He  succeeded  in  getting  a  con 
tract  from  Mr.  Godfrey  by  which  I  should  pay  down 
$1,000  and  $11,000  more  in  three  months,  and  $40,- 

000  additional  as  soon  as  the  net  profits  of  his  half 
should  equal  that  sum.     Mr.  Payne  insisted  that  he 
be  allowed  to  buy  one  share  for  the  sum  of  $1,000,  to 
which  I  consented.     The  Mexican  mining  laws  divide 
a  mine  into  twenty-four  shares;  Godfrey  owned  twelve 
and  I  twelve  shares.     My  option  for  buying  his  half, 
would  expire  on  the  first  of  December,  1897.     On  the 
strength  of  the  report  of  Mr.  Payne  I  now  believed  the 
mine  of  great  value. 

I  immediately  went  to  Chicago,  hoping  to  find  some 
of  my  friends  who  would  buy  Mr.  Godfrey's  interest. 

1  found  that  most  of  them  had  bought  into  gold  mines, 
and  that  their  faith  in  such  investments  was  at  a  low 
ebb,  in  consequence  of  these  experiences.     I  then  went 
to  Boston,  but  found  only  one  man  who  would  invest. 
I  returned  to  Escambia,  thinking  the  deal  hopeless,  but 
not  long  after,  I  went  one  day  into  the  law  office  of 
Blount   &   Blount   in    Pensacola    and    talked   of  this 
matter  to  Clem  Blount,  to  whom  I  showed  Mr.  Payne's 
report.     He  became  interested  at  once  saying  that  he 
knew  Mr.    Payne  and  had  confidence  in  him.     Mr. 
Blount  had  been  one  of  the  party  that  I  had  taken  to 
the  Aveno  mine.    In  conclusion  lie  said :    "I  will  take 


MT.  MORGAN  MINE  299 

one  share  at  $1,000."  I  thanked  him  and  told  him  I 
would  see  what  could  be  done  in  Pensacola.  I  next 
showed  Mr.  Payne's  report  to  John  Eagan  and  he 
asked  me  to  leave  it  with  him,  saying  he  would  see  what 
he  could  do.  He  expressed  a  willingness  to  take  a  share 
himself,  and  stated  that  he  believed  a  sufficient  number 
of  persons  in  Pensacola  would  subscribe  to  complete  the 
amount  required  to  buy  Godfrey's  interest.  I  stood 
ready  to  take  two  and  a  half  shares  myself.  The  full 
amount  necessary  was  soon  raised.  I  gave  each  one  in 
terested  a  written  statement  of  the  money  I  had  re 
ceived  from  him,  how  and  for  what  purpose  it  was  to 
be  invested,  then  I  started  for  Mexico  in  order  to  close 
the  deal  with  Godfrey. 

I  telegraphed  Mr.  Payne,  who  was  at  Valardena, 
to  meet  me  at  Torreon  and  accompany  me  to  Zacatecas. 
Upon  our  arrival  at  that  place  we  found  Mr.  Godfrey 
awaiting  us,  and  the  bargain  was  soon  closed,  accord 
ing  to  the  Spanish  method,  which  was  as  follows:  We 
went  to  a  notary  public's  office,  and  that  official  took 
all  the  papers  for  Mr.  Godfrey's  interest  in  the  mine. 
I  gave  the  notary  exchange  on  New  York  for  the  amount 
due  from  me,  and  Mr.  Payne  handed  a  check  to  the 
clerk  which  I  did  not  read,  but  Mr.  Payne  said  it  was 
a  check  on  a  Chicago  bank  for  $1,000;  this  Godfrey 
accepted  and  told  the  notary  it  was  all  right ;  then  the 
papers  were  signed  by  both  of  us  as  is  the  Mexican 
custom.  I  was  then  handed  the  papers  relating  to  the 
title,  with  a  copy  of  the  record  of  sale. 

After  getting  a  transfer  of  the  title  I  procured  some 
horses  and  Mr.  Payne  and  I  rode  out  to  the  mine.  I 
was  very  much  surprised  to  find  the  working  shaft, 
which  was  ninety  feet  deep,  and  5x8  feet  in  size, 


300  REMINISCENCES 

filled  with  broken  stone,  up  to  within  forty  feet  of  the 
surface,  and  all  the  entrances  to  the  mine  closed  with 
rocks.  We  therefore  could  not  examine  the  mine,  so 
I  returned  home. 

I  have  been  thus  careful  in  detailing  the  circum 
stances  of  Godfrey's  actions  because  of  what  occurred 
later. 

When  I  arrived  at  Pensacola  we  proceeded  to  incor 
porate  the  mine  under  the  laws  of  the  state  of  Florida, 
as  stipulated  in  my  agreement  with  the  persons  who 
contributed  towards  the  purchase.  The  stock  was  issued 
and  I  was  elected  president  of  the  company.  It  was 
also  agreed  that  Mr.  Payne  should  be  employed  as 
superintendent  of  the  mine  but  he  notified  us  that  he 
could  not  give  it  his  entire  attention  on  account  of  his 
employment  by  other  parties,  but  that  if  it  would  be 
satisfactory  to  us  he  would  engage  a  man  to  do  the 
work  under  his  direction,  and  he  himself  would  visit 
the  mine  at  stated  periods.  All  of  this  was  agreed  to  by 
the  company. 

The  first  effort  of  the  new  manager  was  directed  to 
cleaning  out  the  shaft.  I  then  insisted  that  he  should 
give  me  a  further  test  as  to  the  value  of  the  ore.  After 
some  delay  he  sent  me  an  analysis  showing  that  the 
vein  carried  a  value  of  less  than  $8  per  ton,  instead 
$62  as  he  had  certified  in  his  previous  report.  I  asked 
him  to  explain  how  he  had  made  such  a  mistake  as  to 
send  me  his  former  glowing  account  of  the  richness 
of  the  mine,  when  I  had  sent  him  to  examine  it  before 
buying.  He  replied  that  the  mine  must  have  been 
salted.  I  asked  him  how  it  was  possible  to  salt  a  mine 
two  hundred  feet  in  length  and  one  hundred  feet  in 
depth,  so  as  to  deceive  an  experienced  man  like  him- 


MT.  MORGAN  MINE  301 

self;  to  this  he  gave  no  sensible  reply.  Mr.  Payne's 
conduct  convinced  me  that  he  had  deliberately  deceived 
me  and  had  lied  about  the  mine.  He  had  proved  him 
self  a  villain  and  had  joined  Godfrey  in  a  plan  to 
swindle  me.  From  the  time  I  went  to  the  City  of 
Mexico  to  see  Godfrey,  I  had  had  no  confidence  in  the 
man,  but  I  did  not  believe  him  to  be  such  a  scoundrel 
as  later  events  proved.  As  to  Mr.  Payne,  up  to  this 
time  I  had  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  ability 
and  his  integrity,  and  of  all  mining  engineers  that  I 
knew,  I  would  have  selected  him  to  report  the  truth  in 
regard  to  a  mining  proposition.  His  infinitely  false 
report  on  the  Mount  Morgan  mine  caused  me  a  loss 
of  at  least  $15,000.  So  from  my  personal  experience 
I  have  come  to  believe  that  the  mining  engineer  will 
betray  his  best  friend  when  it  comes  to  reporting  on  a 
mine.  The  events  which  followed  the  purchase  of  the 
mine  were  very  annoying  and  subjected  me  to  much 
unjust  censure,  but  I  will  relate  the  particulars  of 
this  later. 

For  several  years  I  pursued  my  usual  duties  in  the 
manufacture  of  lumber,  and  its  selling  as  best  I  could, 
but  the  prices  were  low  and  the  profits  small.  I  could 
see  the  forests  rapidly  diminishing  and  the  product 
sold  close  to  the  cost  incurred.  I  had  wasted  much 
time  in  an  effort  to  combine  producers  of  southern  pine 
lumber  in  an  agreement  to  hold  together  for  a  higher 
price  for  their  goods,  but  all  my  efforts  in  this  direction 
had  proved  unavailing.  I  could  but  feel,  however,  that 
in  the  near  future  prices  were  certain  to  increase. 

I  had  by  this  time  accumulated  over  one  hundred 
thousand  acres  of  land  situated  in  Escambia  and  Santa 
Rosa  counties,  Florida.  The  fixed  charges  upon  these 


302  REMINISCENCES 

and  upon  the  mill  and  business  amounted  to  quite  a 
sum  which  had  to  be  paid  whether  the  mill  were  run 
ning  or  not.  liather  than  see  my  bank  account  dimin 
ish,  I  kept  on  manufacturing  lumber  at  barely  $1  per 
thousand  feet,  profit. 

In  the  year  1898  the  stockholders  of  the  Mount  Mor 
gan  mine  sent  Mr.  Blount  and  myself  to  visit  the  mine 
at  Zacatecas.  On  our  way  there  we  went  to  Durango 
and  saw  Mr.  Payna  He  agreed  to  meet  us  the  next 
day  at  Zacatecas,  but  failed  to  keep  the  appointment. 
We  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  mining  engineer  by 
the  name  of  Whipple  in  charge  of  a  mine  not  far  from 
ours,  and  we  made  arrangements  with  him  to  equip 
our  mine  so  that  we  could  examine  it ;  then  he  went  with 
Mr.  Blount  into  it  and  they  selected  samples  where 
they  thought  they  could  find  an  average  ore.  We  did 
not  let  these  out  of  our  sight,  but  took  them  ourselves 
and  saw  the  assayer  test  them.  We  satisfied  ourselves 
that  it  was  not  possible  for  any  further  fraud  to  be 
perpetuated  upon  us.  The  result  showed  the  value  of 
the  ore  to  be  less  than  $8  per  ton.  After  a  trip  to  the 
City  of  Mexico  we  returned  to  Pensacola  and  reported 
the  result  of  our  visit  to  the  company,  giving  it  as  our 
opinion  that  it  was  not  advisable  to  invest  any  more 
money  in  the  mine. 

Sometime  in  the  year  1900  I  happened  to  be  in 
John  Eagan's  office  in  Pensacola,  and  he  told  me  that 
some  of  the  parties  who  had  contributed  to  the  buying 
of  the  Mount  Morgan  Mine,  had  received  the  opinion 
of  a  lawyer  that  he  could  recover  for  them  the  money 
which  they  had  given  me  to  invest.  Up  to  this  time 
none  of  the  men  had  ever  suggested  that  I  reimburse 
him  for  the  loss  he  had  sustained.  It  was  soon  after 


MT.  MORGAN  MINE  303 

this  that  I  was  served  with  a  summons  in  each  of  three 
or  four  suits  begun  against  me  to  recover  the  money  paid 
by  the  plaintiffs  for  the  stock.  I  could  see  no  equity  or 
justice  in  my  being  held  responsible  for  money  they 
had  invested  in  a  speculation  regarding  which  they  had 
the  same  chances  for  information  that  I  had  had  my 
self,  and  to  whom  I  had  imparted  accurately  all  the 
information  I  possessed.  I  presume  it  was  done  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  lawyer  before  alluded  to,  and  that 
he  received  a  good  fee  from  each  of  the  eight  persona 
who  entered  suit  against  me.  If  I  had  paid  the  money 
back,  it  would  have  been  an  acknowledgment  of  guilt 
on  my  part.  I  think  it  was  two  years  before  the  suits 
were  noticed  for  trial;  and  when  finally  brought  I 
did  not  appear.  The  plaintiffs  produced  such  testimony 
as  they  could,  and  the  presiding  judge  ordered  the  jury 
to  bring  in  a  verdict  for  the  defendant  The  lawyer 
for  the  plaintiffs  appealed  from  the  verdict  to  the 
supreme  court  of  the  state  of  Florida  with  the  result 
that  the  decision  of  the  lower  court  was  sustained. 
My  lawyer  took  all  the  evidence,  put  it  in  a  tin  box 
and  placed  it  in  the  custody  of  the  clerk  of  the  court 
of  Escambia  county ;  he  then  put  the  key  of  the  box  in 
his  pocket  and  I  presume  the  evidence  of  those  unjust 
suits  will  repose  in  that  box  until  something  shall 
happen  to  destroy  it. 

I  have  always  believed  that  John  Eagan  had  much 
to  do  with  the  bringing  of  these  suits;  it  would  have 
been  his  manner  of  showing  gratitude  for  the  many 
favors  I  had  done  him.  Thus  ended  the  numerous 
suits  which  had  hurt  my  feelings  very  much.  I  never 
have  believed  that  any  of  the  plaintiffs  thought  I  had 
done  anything  wrong  in  the  matter,  but  on  the  contrary 


304:  BEMJNISCENCES 

they  were  satisfied  that  I,  like  themselves,  had  been 
deceived  by  Payne;  but  they  were  not  "game"  to  meet 
a  loss  of  $1,000  each,  in  a  manly  way  when  an  un 
principled  lawyer  told  them  they  could  recover  the 
amount  of  their  losses  from  me. 


OHAPTEK  XXVI. 

A    CHANGE    OF   BASE. 

In  the  fall  of  1903  I  came  home  from  Chicago  and 
found  that  affairs  had  been  working  badly  all  summer 
at  Chumuckla  in  our  logging  matters.  I  had  placed  a 
nephew  in  charge  of  the  business  at  that  place,  but  lie 
was  of  a  passionate  disposition  and  antagonized  many 
of  the  employees,  among  others  a  B,.  R.  engineer  by  the 
name  of  Lewis,  whom  I  had  always  found  to  be  very 
competent  and  obliging.  Lewis  had  quit  work  and  an 
inexperienced  man  had  been  given  charge  of  the  loco 
motive  who  was  proving  both  unsatisfactory  and  ex 
pensive.  About  the  middle  of  September  I  determined 
to  go  to  Chumuckla,  and  decided  that  my  nephew 
must  patch  up  his  quarrel  with  Lewis,  if  he  retain 
his  own  place.  Lewis  was  living  on  a  homestead  which 
he  had  taken  up,  about  half  way  between  Chumuckla 
and  Florida  Town,  in  Santa  Rosa  county.  I  drove 
there  from  my  place  in  an  open  buggy  and  the  weather 
being  warm  I  rode  in  my  shirt  sleeves.  I  sat  in  the 
buggy  for  two  or  three  hours  until  my  nephew  and 
Lewis  had  settled  their  differences.  In  the  meantime 
I  had  become  quite  chilly  and  realized  that  I  had  made 
a  mistake  in  leaving  the  house  without  my  coat.  How 
ever  I  rode  back  to  Chumuckla  with  a  constant  sense 
of  chilliness,  and  that  night  I  did  not  sleep  well  as  my 
feet  were  cold.  The  next  day  I  resolved  to  return  to 
Escambia,  my  mind  much  relieved  that  Lewis  was 
going  back  to  work  feeling  good  humored. 

305 


306  BEMINISCENCES 

After  dinner  that  day  I  left  to  go  to  Molino  to  take 
the  train  for  Escambia.  In  the  evening  I  went  down 
town  and  was  shaved.  Coming  out  of  the  barber  shop  I 
met  Mr.  Hyer  on  the  street,  who  after  greeting  me  said : 
"Skinner,  you  don't  look  a  day  older  than  you  did  the 
first  time  I  saw  you" — this  had  been  thirty  years  be 
fore.  I  returned  to  the  hotel  and  went  to  bed,  but  the 
bed  was  poor  and  my  feet  were  cold.  The  train  was  to 
leave  in  the  morning  at  seven  o'clock,  for  Escambia. 
At  a  quarter  to  six  I  arose  and  went  to  the  office  of  the 
hotel.  It  had  been  my  custom  for  a  long  time  to  exer 
cise  my  legs  by  doing  a  cake  walk  each  morning,  and  as 
I  had  time  to  spare  I  took  my  usual  exercise.  The 
clerk  remarked  to  me  "Mr.  Skinner,  you  appear  to  feel 
mighty  well  this  morning."  I  replied:  "I  never  felt 
better."  After  finishing  my  cake-walk  I  felt  a  sting 
ing  sensation  in  my  right  arm  between  the  shoulder  and 
the  elbow;  more  like  a  mosquito  bite  than  any  thing 
else  I  can  liken  it  to.  Not  long  after  that  I  felt  a 
similar  sensation  in  the  thigh  of  my  right  leg.  At  train 
time  I  took  my  satchel  and  walked  to  the  depot,  not 
realizing  that  anything  was  the  matter  with  me.  When 
I  arrived  at  Escambia  station  I  was  not  expected  and  so 
there  was  no  carriage  to  meet  me.  I  gave  my  valise  to 
the  mail  carrier  and  walked  to  my  office  about  a  mile 
away.  Arriving  there  I  busied  myself  in  examining 
the  mail  which  had  come  in  my  absence,  and  found  that 
three  bank  checks  had  been  sent  back  for  signature. 
I  signed  two  of  them  without  experiencing  any  difficulty 
but  in  signing  the  last  one  the  muscles  of  my  hand  and 
fingers  refused  to  respond  to  .my  mind.  This  surprised 
me  and  calling  to  my  son  asked  him  what  he  supposed 
was  the  reason;  he  said:  "Father  it  looks  like  paral- 


A  CHANGE  OF  BASE  307 

ysis."  Even  then  I  was  not  alarmed.  At  dinner  time 
I  walked  up  the  hill  from  the  office  to  my  house ;  arriv 
ing  there,  I  found  that  the  clock  had  run  down,  and  I 
went  into  the  kitchen  to  get  a  wooden  chair  that  I 
could  stand  on,  to  reach  the  clock  and  wind  it.  Pass 
ing  through  the  dining  room  I  saw  the  little  cup 
board  where  I  kept  some  liquors  and  stopped  and  took 
a  drink  of  whiskey. 

I  went  to  my  son's  house  to  eat  my  dinner ;  as  nearly 
as  I  can  recollect,  I  ate  a  hearty  dinner  and  felt  the 
effects  of  the  liquor  more  than  commonly.  After  din 
ner  we  left  the  dining  room  for  the  sitting  room  and 
my  son  remarked:  "Father,  if  I  were  you,  I  would 
go  up  stairs  and  lie  down."  I  replied:  "I  guess  I 
will."  In  going  up  stairs  my  right  foot  hit  the  step 
and  I  stumbled  forward.  I  righted  myself,  however, 
and  went  on  up  the  stairs  and  lay  down  on  the  bed; 
I  do  not  now  recall  whether  I  went  to  sleep  or  not.  My 
son  telephoned  to  Pensacola  for  a  doctor,  and  by  the 
time  he  arrived,  about  half  past  four,  I  was  pretty 
well  paralyzed  on  my  right  side;  my  arm  was  entirely 
useless  and  I  had  to  take  my  left  hand  to  move  it; 
the  physical  condition  in  which  I  found  myself  was  so 
unknown  to  me  that  I  was  astonished.  In  a  day  or 
two  I  was  able  to  be  up,  and  by  holding  to  something 
with  my  left  hand  I  was  able  to  walk  to  the  next  room. 
I  was  entirely  ignorant  as  to  the  cause  of,  or  the  cure 
of  my  malady.  Since  my  first  attack  I  think  that  I 
have  gradually  improved;  but  I  realize  more  and  more 
that  we  are  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made.  I  have 
lived  in  hopes  that  I  would  eventually  recover  from 
my  infirmity,  but  perhaps  I  never  shall.  I  have  been 
very  fortunate  in  having  to  suffer  no  pain,  nor  in  being 


308  REMINISCENCES 

under  much  physical  annoyance.  I  do  not  think  that 
the  stroke  affected  me  mentally,  as  I  appear  to  have 
my  faculties  in  about  the  same  condition  that  they 
were  when  I  was  first  afflicted. 

Just  a  week  from  the  time  I  was  paralyzed,  my 
nephew  who  was  at  Chumuckla  went  on  the  train  from 
that  place  to  the  log  landing  at  Delany  River.  The 
men  unloading  the  logging  train  got  a  log  through  the 
skids,  and  while  they  were  rolling  it  into  the  river  he 
stepped  onto  the  rollway  in  front  of  the  car  on  which 
two  logs  still  remained,  in  order  to  direct  the  man  who 
was  trying  to  get  the  logs  into  the  water.  It  seems 
that  a  log  projecting  from  a  car  in  the  rear  of  the 
one  with  which  they  were  working,  blocked  the  two 
logs  on  the  car  in  front;  this  was  at  last  loosened  and 
the  freed  logs  rolled  towards  the  water.  They  came 
quicker  than  was  expected,  and  my  nephew,  to  escape 
them,  jumped  through  the  skidding  onto  the  sand  be 
neath;  then  he  suddenly  began  to  call  for  help.  When 
the  men  reached  him  they  found  that  he  could  not  stir 
a  muscle  of  his  limbs;  he  was  paralyzed  in  his  motor 
muscles,  though  his  speech  was  apparently  not  at  all 
affected.  As  soon  as  I  learned  of  these  facts  I  sent  the 
tugboat  to  the  Delany  River  landing  to  bring  the  sick 
man  to  the  Pensacola  Hospital,  where  the  physicians 
could  not  find  a  bruise  or  contusion  on  him,  nor  any 
ostensible  cause  for  the  paralysis.  Possibly  it  was 
caused  by  the  fright  or  the  concussion  of  striking  the 
packed  sand.  In  time  he  recovered  the  use  of  the  mus 
cles,  but  he  never  regained  his  strength.  He  became 
despondent  over  his  condition,  and  died  a  little  more 
than  a  year  later  of  a  fever  which  developed  while  he 
was  in  Quincy,  Florida. 


A  CHANGE  OF  BASE  309 

The  mystery  as  to  the  cause  of  the  paralysis  of 
both  my  nephew  and  myself  has  much  aroused  my 
curiosity.  I  have  concluded  that  the  interruption  of 
the  telephonic  system,  carried  on  between  the  brain 
and  the  muscles,  which  is  so  apparent  to  one  thus  af 
flicted,  is  due  to  ruptured  brain  cells,  and  that  the 
paralysis  itself  is  a  result  and  not  a  cause. 

It  will  be  five  years  next  September  (1908)  since 
this  stroke  occurred,  and  some  of  the  time  when  I  have 
been  under  treatment  I  have  fancied  myself  improv 
ing  ;  but  on  the  whole  there  hap  been  very  little  change. 
I  notice  that  the  weather  affects  my  condition;  a  very 
warm  period  weakening  me ;  also  the  effect  on  one's 
mind  of  realizing  that  he  may  be  a  cripple  for  the  re 
mainder  of  his  life  is  physically  depressing. 

By  January,  1905,  I  had  sold  my  holdings  in  Flor 
ida,  My  paralysis  made  it  difficult  for  me  to  get 
around,  so  I  found  it  a  little  dull  at  Escambia,  there 
fore  my  wife  and  I  took  a  notion  to  go  to  east  Florida, 
and  if  that  section  had  sufficient  attractions,  to  make 
our  home  there.  I  decided  that  I  would  take  no  nurse 
with  me,  as  our  freedom  would  be  that  much  more 
hampered.  We  went  to  Jacksonville,  where  a  great 
fire  had  recently  occurred.  We  stopped  at  the  Wind 
sor  Hotel,  which  had  escaped  injury.  From  there  we 
went  to  St.  Augustine,  spent  one  night  at  the  Ponce 
de  Leon,  and  then  proceeded  on  our  way  down  the 
coast  to  Daytona.  We  had  heard  that  place  very  much 
admired  and  praised.  We  stopped  a  week  at  the  Clar 
endon,  at  Seabreeze.  All  the  accommodations  of  this 
hotel  had  been  engaged  for  the  automobile  races,  and 
I  could  only  secure  rooms  up  to  that  time.  In  those 
days  I  was  not  much  of  an  automobile  enthusiast, 


310  REMINISCENCES 

having  acquired  the  craze  then  which  I  took  later  when 
I  had  a  machine  of  my  own,  but  I  could  well  appre 
ciate  the  beautiful  beach  at  this  place,  and  the  fine 
course  which  it  afforded.  We  went  from  Seabreeze  di 
rect  to  Miami.  We  rode  around  that  city  considerably 
and  I  was  quite  favorably  impressed  with  the  locality. 
The  soil  appeared  to  be  of  coral  formation.  If  one  had 
to  dig  post-holes  it  was  necessary  to  dig  right  into  this 
coral  rock,  but  it  could  be  pulverized  so  as  to  make 
clean  dirt.  Great  industry  was  shown  here  in  the  mat 
ter  of  building  wagon  roads,  as  this  rock  made  an  ex 
cellent  roadbed.  Orange  trees,  however,  grow  lux 
uriantly  in  it,  and  I  saw  many  grape  fruit  fields.  The 
pineapple  culture  seemed  to  be  a  great  success,  also, 
and  the  indications  showed  a  fine  future  for  the  local 
ity  in  the  raising  of  the  latter  fruit. 

After  staying  here  two  or  three  days  we  concluded 
to  take  the  boat  for  Nassau,  which  at  that  time  was  the 
terminus  of  the  Flagler  route.  We  stopped  at  the 
Colonial  hotel  while  there  and  during  our  stay  took 
many  pleasant  drives  around  the  island.  Our  accom 
modations  at  the  hotel  being  very  satisfactory;  and 
among  other  pleasant  features  there  an  excellent  band 
furnished  music  every  evening  to  entertain  the  guests. 
In  leaving  this  place  we  crossed  the  channel  between 
New  Providence  and  the  island  east  of  it,  and  visited 
a  place  of  resort  where  they  fed  their  guests  with 
oranges;  these  were  pared  and  a  stick  run  through 
them,  and  in  that  manner  one  could  partake  of  his  fill. 
There  was  a  large  bath  house  and  the  finest  bathing 
beach  one  could  desire,  but  after  the  novelty  of  these 
attractions  had  worn  away  the  life  here  appeared  to  be 
a  dull  one.  East  of  the  hotel,  in  the  channel  between 


A  CHANGE  OF  BASE  311 

the  two  islands,  the  water  was  of  different  shades  of 
blue  and  green,  the  colors  being  very  intense.  This 
was  caused,  I  suppose,  by  the  growth  underneath.  Down 
the  channel  at  some  distance  south  of  the  hotel,  glass- 
bottomed  boats  were  towed  by  tugs  over  the  subma 
rine  gardens  between  the  islands,  in  the  channel.  One 
day  we  concluded  to  take  this  trip  and  we  were  greatly 
pleased  by  what  we  saw ;  fantastic  and  gorgeous  shrubs 
appeared  to  be  growing  out  of  the  coral  bottom  of  the 
stream.  Among  this  growth  many  beautiful  fish  of 
brilliant  colors  were  to  be  seen. 

After  stopping  at  this  hotel  a  little  more  than  a 
week,  we  concluded  to  return  to  Miami,  where  I  had 
looked  at  some  property  with  the  idea  of  purchasing 
it.  I  was  considerably  surprised  at  the  change  that 
had  occurred  during  our  absence.  I  had  supposed  that 
this  part  of  Florida  was  below  the  frost  line,  but  I 
found  the  leaves  of  the  orange  trees  frost-bitten,  and 
the  pineapple  fields,  of  which  I  had  seen  before  many 
luxuriant  specimens,  were  blackened  with  the  cold.  I 
had  thought  that  there  might  be  a  great  future  indus 
try  established  in  Florida  in  the  growing  of  this  fruit, 
but  the  appearances  now  deterred  me  from  making  any 
purchase.  So  we  pursued  our  return  journey  to  Palm 
Beach,  where  we  stopped  at  Hotel  Breakers.  This  was 
a  very  pleasant,  home-like  place,  situated  directly  on 
the  ocean  beach.  There  was  a  horse  car  line  that  con 
veyed  guests  from  this  hotel  to  the  Royal  Poinciana. 
We  took  advantage  of  this  and  occasionally  visited  the 
latter  hotel  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  the  style  and  fash 
ion  displayed  by  the  guests  and  to  observe  the  pomp  of 
the  service.  Of  the  two  hotels,  I  preferred  the  Break 
ers.  After  stopping  at  this  place  of  fashion  as  long  as 


312  BEMINISCENCES 

it  was  interesting,  we  continued  our  journey  to  St. 
Augustine,  where  we  stopped  at  the  Alcazar.  I  had 
become  attached  to  this  hotel  during  a  former  stay,  so 
enjoyed  coming  back.  While  at  this  place  we  bought 
coral  beads  for  our  grandchildren,  and  numerous  other 
articles  for  their  edification. 

From  St.  Augustine  we  went  to  Jacksonville,  where 
we  remained  at  the  Windsor  until  we  started  for  our 
home  at  Escambia*  Our  trip  had  covered  about  six 
weeks;  we  had  had  a  very  pleasant  time,  and  nothing 
disagreeable  had  occurred,  but  I  decided  that  I  would 
travel  farther  before  selecting  a  home.  We  remained 
at  Escambia  until  April,  when  we  went  to  Chicago  and 
bought  round-trip  tickets  to  Los  Angeles,  California, 
returning  by  the  way  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Rail 
road. 

We  concluded  to  take  a  trained  nurse  with  us;  this 
time  a  woman,  on  account  of  my  helpless  condition. 
We  left  Chicago  on  the  evening  of  April  14th.  We 
saw  little  of  interest  during  the  first  of  our  trip,  except 
the  Standard  Oil  pipe  lines  which  were  being  laid  be 
side  this  road.  The  farms  of  Kansas  also  were  attrac 
tive.  We  decided  to  stop  at  Las  Vegas,  a  locality  of 
which  we  had  heard  much,  as  the  hotel  and  hot  springs 
had  been  largely  advertised  as  a  health  resort.  We 
found  the  hotel  closed,  so  we  stopped  at  Harvey  Hotel 
for  a  couple  of  days,  when  we  decided  to  go  to  Albu 
querque,  where  I  had  a  nephew  living  in  the  vicinity, 
and  to  whom  I  had  written  of  our  coming.  He  was  a 
few  years  younger  than  myself  and  I  had  not  seen 
him  since  I  left  home  in  my  youth  for  Washington, 
D.  C.  This  man  was  the  eldest  son  of  my  brother, 
Dan  Barnes.  I  found  him  much  afflicted,  having 


A  CHANGE  OF  BASE  313 

cataracts  on  both  eyes.  To  meet  him  again  after  so 
long  and  to  talk  with  him  of  the  events  of  our  lives  for 
the  preceding  fifty,  or  more,  years,  was  very  interest 
ing.  Albuquerque  proved  to  be  a  promising  place,  with 
good  future  prospects.  I  saw  here  a  large  sawmill,  re 
cently  built,  with  a  capacity  of  three  hundred  thousand 
feet  per  day.  The  logs  for  the  supply  of  this  mill 
were  brought  by  rail  from  Arizona  and  were  cut  from 
forests  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant. 
They  were  unloaded  from  the  cars  into  an  artificial 
pond,  from  which  they  were  drawn  into  the  mill  as 
needed.  The  altitude  of  Albuquerque  is  about  four 
thousand  feet. 

At  the  conclusion  of  our  visit  in  this  city,  we  de 
cided  to  go  and  see  the  Grand  C'anyon  of  the  Colo 
rado.  We  took  a  Pullman  car  and  arrived  at  our  des 
tination  in  the  forenoon  and  stopped  at  the  Hotel  El 
Tovar,  which  occupies  a  site  seven  thousand  feet  above 
sea  level  and  is  close  to  the  rim  of  the  canyon.  It  is 
built  of  pine  slabs  and  stone  and  is  from  three  to  four 
stories  high.  It  is  very  attractive  in  appearance  and 
has  the  accommodations  usual  with  a  first  class  hotel. 
In  nearby  buildings  were  displayed  many  curious  ar 
ticles  made  by  the  Navajo  Indians.  A  few  rods  from 
the  hotel  was  a  cliff  where  one  might  look  thirteen  miles 
across  the  canyon  to  the  other  side,  and  also  look  down 
to  where  the  river  flowed,  a  mile  below.  The  chasm 
is  stupendous;  how  or  when  Nature  formed  it,  haa 
never  been  satisfactorily  explained;  but  the  magni 
tude  of  it  impresses  the  onlooker  with  a  sense  of  the 
wonderful  power  of  Nature. 

After  gratifying  our  curiosity  with  the  various 
views  of  the  canyon,  we  concluded  that  we  would  visit 


314  EEMINISCENCES 

the  city  of  Phoenix  and  the  Salt  River  Valley.  I  had 
always  wished  to  visit  this  territory  since  ex-Governor 
Bashford  of  Wisconsin — the  first  territorial  governor 
of  Arizona,  appointed  by  President  Lincoln — had  in 
vited  me  to  accompany  him  here.  I  was  more  pleased 
with  the  city  of  Phoenix  than  I  expected  to  be;  there 
were  many  fine  buildings  and  the  spirit  of  the  place 
was  full  of  enterprise  and  push.  I  accidentally  dis 
covered  that  the  grandson  of  Governor  Bashford  had 
come  to  this  city  from  Prescott,  was  then  living  here 
and  was  cashier  of  the  bank  on  which  I  had  a  letter 
of  credit. 

The  valley  in  which  Phoenix  is  situated  is  one  of 
great  fertility;  a  number  of  irrigating  ditches  car 
ries  the  water  to  the  cultivated  lands,  and  the  great 
Roosevelt  dam  being  built  on  the  headwaters  of  Salt 
River  will  hold  water  sufficient  to  irrigate  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  acres. 

We  met,  casually,  some  persons  here  whom  we  had 
known  in  Chicago;  among  others  a  Mr.  Giles,  who 
owned  considerable  land  in  the  valley.  In  Chicago 
he  had  been  a  jeweler,  when  I  lived  there  in  the  six 
ties.  The  drawback  to  this  section  is  the  extreme  heat. 
Later  we  retraced  our  journey  to  Ash  Fork  and  from 
there  proceeded  on  our  way  to  California.  Our  trip 
from  Chicago  to  the  coast  having  occupied  more  than 
three  weeks. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  REAL  ESTATE  AGENT  AND   HIS  SCHEMES. 

When  I  was  paralyzed  it  took  but  a  short  time  for 
me  to  realize  that  my  strength  was  unequal  to  con 
ducting  my  business  in  a  profitable  manner,  and  I  saw 
that  I  must  withdraw  from  active  affairs.  In  the  fall 
of  1903  a  Mr.  Bell,  who  for  some  time  had  been  try 
ing  to  negotiate  a  sale  of  my  lands,  came  to  my  house 
in  Escambia  with  a  number  of  gentlemen  whom  he 
presented  as  capitalists  from  Indianapolis.  He  stated 
that  they  were  prepared  to  buy  my  property  if  they 
could  make  a  satisfactory  contract.  After  consider 
able  negotiation  I  sent  to  Milton  for  my  lawyer,  Ear 
nest  Amos,  who  drew  up  a  contract  which  I  submit 
ted  to  them.  One  of  the  party  of  gentlemen,  a  Mr. 
E.  E.  Douville,  appeared  to  take  the  most  prominent 
part  in  the  negotiations.  He  requested  that  the  con 
tract  be  made  out  to  himself  alone,  for  reasons  which 
he  did  not  state.  I  therefore  had  the  contract  altered 
to  suit  his  wishes.  This  also  proved  unsatisfactory  to 
him,  and  he  drew  up  a  contract  written  by  himself, 
which  he  offered  me.  After  two  or  three  days  of  dis 
cussion  and  alterations,  we  attached  our  signatures  to 
this.  A  certain  sum  had  been  agreed  upon  as  the  pur 
chase  price  of  the  pine  lands,  mills  and  railroad; 
$5,000  was  to  be  paid  when  the  contract  was  signed, 
$5,000  more  on  January  1st  of  the  next  year,  and  a 
$100,000  to  be  paid  on  the  following  April  1st,  less 

315 


316  REMINISCENCES 

the  two  payments  already  provided  for.  There  was  a 
provision  that  by  the  payment  of  $5,000  a  ninety-day 
extension  of  the  April  payment  could  be  had. 

The  deal  was  consummated  according  to  these  terms 
and  the  payments  met  as  stipulated,  until  the  follow 
ing  April;  then  Douville  made  the  payment  of  $5,000 
to  postpone  for  ninety  days  the  payment  due  April  1st. 

Soon  after  tho  contract  had  been  signed,  my  wife 
and  I  went  to  Mudlavia,  Indiana,  to  see  if  the  mud 
baths  there  would  benefit  my  paralysis  and  her  rheuma 
tism.  I  had  suffered  for  years  from  eczema,  and  I 
found  that  the  mud  baths  produced  an  irritation  which 
became  almost  unbearable,  so  after  taking  some  twelve 
or  thirteen  baths  I  had  to  discontinue  them. 

We  returned  to  Escambia,  and  spent  the  winter.  The 
next  spring,  in  May,  I  think,  my  wife  and  I  went  to 
Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  to  see  what  the  Sanitarium 
there  could  do  for  our  conditions.  I  did  not  receive 
any  particular  benefit  from  the  treatment  that  I  could 
perceive,  but  we  found  the  accommodations  and  treat 
ments  very  pleasant.  While  there  I  employed  a  pri 
vate  nurse,  for  my  exclusive  benefit;  he  also  did  my 
writing  for  me.  Up  to  this  time  my  wife  had  acted 
as  my  amanuensis. 

I  did  not  hear  from  Mr.  Douville  while  I  was  at 
Battle  Creek  until  after  the  middle  of  June.  I  then 
learned  that  there  was  some  doubt  as  to  whether  the 
purchasers  would  make  the  payments  due  on  the  29th 
of  the  month.  If  not,  they  would  forfeit  the  $15,000 
which  they  had  already  paid  on  the  contract.  Our 
efforts  in  the  lumber  business  had  been  very  light  since 
entering  into  this  contract  with  Douville.  Expecting 
to  surrender  the  property,  I  did  not  feel  like  making 


THE  BEAL  ESTATE  AGENT  317 

improvements  which  I  would  otherwise  have  done, 
thinking  I  should  hand  over  the  affairs  to  the  pur 
chasers  so  soon. 

The  sums  of  money  he  had  paid  me  would  but 
make  good  what  we  had  lost  from  our  inability  to  make 
contracts,  and  from  the  suspended  conditions  of  oper 
ating  the  mill.  Douville  applied  to  me  for  terms  to 
farther  extend  the  time  and  I  offered  to  give  him  thirty 
days,  for  $5,000,  but  stipulated  that  this  sum  should 
be  paid  before  the  time  of  the  contract  had  expired. 
This  was  not  done,  so  I  notified  Mr.  Douville  that  his 
rights  under  the  agreement  had  lapsed,  and  that  he  had 
forfeited  the  payments  he  had  already  made.  I  was 
sitting  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Sanitarium  one  forenoon, 
when  I  saw  Douville  enter.  Evidently  he  did  not  see 
me.  He  registered,  I  think,  and  went  away.  Not  long 
afterwards  I  saw  Mr.  Bell  enter  the  rotunda.  I  do 
not  believe  that  he  saw  me,  either.  I  presumed  that 
they  had  come  to  pay  me  the  $5,000  and  get  an  exten 
sion  of  the  contract.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Douville 
sent  me  his  card,  with  a  request  for  an  interview.  I 
went  out  and  met  him  in  the  hall  on  the  third  floor.  I 
conducted  him  to  a  parlor,  inviting  him  to  take  a  seat ; 
sat  down  myself  and  waited  for  him  to  explain  his  er 
rand.  He  then  stated  that  he  had  found  a  party  in 
Michigan,  whom  I  had  known  when  at  Pentwater,  who 
stood  ready  to  buy  a  half  interest  in  my  property  and 
pay  cash.  That  he  himself  would  take  a  quarter  in 
terest,  and  that  another  man,  living  at  Pentwater,  or 
Manistee,  would  take  the  remaining  quarter,  he  was 
sure,  when  he  returned  from  Canada,  where  he  had 
gone  on  a  business  trip,  to  be  absent  two  or  three  weeks. 
With  this  prospect  in  view  Douville  asked  me  to  give 


318  REMINISCENCES 

him  authority  to  consummate  this  deal.  If  I  did  this  I 
considered  it  would  be  necessary  to  put  the  permission 
in  writing.  I  told  him  that  I  knew  no  lawyer  in  Bat 
tle  Creek  whom  I  would  trust  to  draw  up  such  an  agree 
ment,  but  he  was  so  urgent  that  he  be  allowed  to  close 
the  deal,  as  he  had  outlined  it,  that  I  received  an  im 
pression  that  there  might  be  some  truth  in  his  state 
ments.  I  did  not  feel  equal  to  the  task  of  drawing  up 
the  contract  with  him,  so  after  thinking  the  matter  over 
told  him  that  I  would  extend  the  contract  I  already 
had  with  him  for  thirty  days,  to  enable  him  to  close 
the  deal  he  had  in  hand. 

Douville  asked  me  if  I  would  allow  him  one  and 
one-half  per  cent  commissions  if  he  made  the  sale,  and 
also  stated  that  he  had  put  $5,000  of  his  own  money 
into  the  transaction,  and  he  asked  if  I  would  return 
him  this  amount.  I  consented  to  both  of  these  terms. 
Then  he  wished  me  to  put  this  agreement  in  writing. 
I  did  not  feel  able  to  do  more  at  the  time,  so  I  told 
him  I  would  write  him  a  letter,  that  evening  or  the 
next  day,  covering  these  points.  This  appeared  to  sat 
isfy  him  and  he  departed.  Then  I  returned  to  my 
room. 

When  I  was  sufficiently  rested,  I  had  my  nurse  write 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Douville  for  me,  stating  that  I  would 
extend  the  time  of  the  present  contract  with  him  for  a 
period  of  thirty  days.  In  the  usual  time  I  received  a 
reply  to  this,  saying  that  my  letter  was  all  right,  as 
far  as  it  went,  but  that  it  said  nothing  about  his  com 
missions  or  the  $5,000.  It  did  not  seem  to  me  that  I 
had  forgotten  to  mention  these  conditions  in  my  let 
ter,  but  I  wrote  him  that  he  was  to  have  a  commission 


THE  REAL  ESTATE  AGENT  319 

of  one  and  one-half  per  cent  and  $5,000  in  case  he 
complied  with  the  contract. 

About  a  week  after  this  I  received  another  letter 
from  Mr.  Douville,  making  no  allusions  to  the  Michi 
gan  people,  to  whom  he  had  expected  to  sell  the  prop 
erty,  but  stating  that  he  felt  sure  of  finding  a  customer 
in  a  short  time.  This  letter  surprised  me.  I  did  not 
know  what  to  make  of  it.  I  at  once  wrote  Douville 
that  I  had  given  him  no  option  on  the  property,  and 
asked  him  to  send  me  a  copy  of  my  letter,  as  I  had 
failed  to  keep  one.  I  received  from  him  a  letter  en 
closing  what  he  asserted  was  a  copy  of  the  one  I 
had  sent  him.  After  this  I  put  out  of  mind  that  I 
would  have  any  further  business  relations  with  Mr. 
Douville,  as  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  no  con 
fidence  could  be  placed  in  him. 

About  the  2d  of  August  I  left  Battle  Creek  and 
went  to  Chicago  and  took  rooms  with  my  nurse  on 
33d  Place,  adjacent  to  a  branch  of  the  Battle 
Creek  Sanitarium,  where  I  continued  to  take  the  treat 
ments  followed  by  that  institution.  I  think  it  was  some 
time  in  September  when  I  received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Douville  saying  that  he  would  like  to  see  me.  I  sent 
a  reply  that  he  could  see  me  if  he  came  where  I  was. 
Not  long  after  that  he  called  at  my  place  and  said  he 
came  to  get  my  sanction  to  his  selling  my  property  in 
Florida ;  but  my  son  and  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
to  have  nothing  further  to  do  with  him,  so  I  refused 
to  give  him  any  authority  to  sell  the  property. 

I  returned  to  Escambia  soon  after  this,  taking  my 
nurse,  Mr.  Grantham,  with  me.  We  arrived  in  the 
morning  and  found  that  there  was  to  be  a  circus  in 
Pensacola  that  day,  and  most  of  the  workmen  had  gone 


320  REMINISCENCES 

to  see  it.     The  mill  was  practically  shut  down,   ex 
cept  the  dry  kilns. 

While  we  were  eating  dinner  that  day,  in  the  mid 
dle  of  the  meal  my  son  rose  suddenly  from  the  table, 
passed  from  the  dining  room  and  went  out  of  the  front 
door.  I  wondered  what  was  the  matter,  but  did  not 
leave  my  seat.  In  a  little  while  I  heard  the  fire  alarm 
whistle  from  the  kilns  and  realized  the  cause  of  my 
son's  hasty  exit.  I  arose  and  hobbled  down  to  the  mill 
as  fast  as  I  could  go.  When  I  was  near  the  office 
I  saw  that  the  roof  of  the  building  was  on  fire.  There 
were  several  men  there  who  had  come  from  the  woods 
to  get  provisions.  One  man  was  struggling  to  drag 
the  hose  from  the  hydrant  in  front  of  the  mill  up  the 
elevated  walk  that  went  into  the  office.  He  needed 
help  and  I  hastened  to  assist  him,  but  before  I  could 
reach  him  he  had  dropped  the  hose.  There  appeared 
to  be  nothing  efficient  done  which  would  put  out  the 
fire.  The  building  was  a  large  one,  and  as  I  saw  that 
it  was  likely  to  burn  down  I  hurried  into  the  store 
below  to  direct  getting  out  the  goods.  It  appears  that 
I  forgot  more  important  things  which  were  in  the 
office.  Mr.  Thompson,  the  bookkeeper,  had  gone  to 
Pensacola  that  day  and  he  had  locked  the  two  safes, 
but  all  of  my  letters  and  bills  for  the  last  thirty  years 
were  burned.  We  have  sadly  missed  these,  as  all  of 
our  correspondence  with  Douville  was  burned  except 
two  or  three  letters  which  I  happened  to  have  in  my 
valise.  The  building,  which  was  about  110x30  feet 
in  size  and  two  and  a  half  stories  high,  I  saw  burned 
to  the  ground.  The  two  safes  fell  into  the  basement, 
but  the  contents  of  both  were  fairly  well  preserved;  a 
copy  book  of  letters  was  also  preserved,  and  our  ae- 


THE  REAL   ESTATE  AGENT  321 

count  books,  which  contained  the  accounts  of  the  Skin 
ner  Manufacturing  Company  since  the  days  of  1893., 
were  practically  in  good  condition. 

Being  now  without  a  store  or  office,  we  took  as  a 
substitute  an  empty  house  which  stood  on  the  bluff. 
In  one  part  of  it  we  put  a  stock  of  goods  to  supply  the 
needs  of  the  mill  hands  and  their  families,  and  the 
remaining  part  of  the  building  was  used  as  an  office. 
Our  business  moved  along  as  usual  without  any  serious 
interference  on  account  of  the  fire. 

The  next  affair  of  interest  came  from  the  negotia 
tions  of  my  son  with  a  Mr.  J.  R.  Saunders  for  the  sale 
of  the  property,  but  specific  terms  and  the  conclusion 
of  the  matter  were  left  to  my  decision.  My  son  had 
included  considerable  property  in  his  offer  to  Mr. 
Saunders  that  had  not  been  included  in  the  contract 
with  Douville.  I  named  the  price  definitely  for  which 
I  would  sell  the  whole,  but  he  wished  to  divide  the 
pine  lands  from  the  cypress  lands,  so  I  gave  him  a 
price  upon  the  pine  lands  only,  stating  that  I  would 
keep  the  cypress  lands  myself.  He  then  made  me  an 
offer  $25,000  less  than  my  price,  which  I  promptly 
declined.  A  short  time  afterwards  I  called  on  him  to 
get  some  maps  which  I  had  loaned  him,  and  he  re 
newed  the  subject  of  buying  the  lands.  After  satisfy 
ing  himself  that  I  would  make  no  reduction  in  the  price 
named  to  him  he  said  that  he  would  take  the  property 
at  my  figure.  We  then  began  making  out  the  papers 
for  an  option;  these  were  completed  and  signed  No 
vember  1st,  1904,  and  $10,000  paid;  this  to  be  for 
feited  if  the  sale  was  not  concluded.  Final  papers 
were  made  out  November  25th. 

Not  long  afterwards  I  was  surprised  at  receiving  a 


322  REMINISCENCES 

letter  from  Douville  claiming  a  commission  for  selling 
the  property.  He  had  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with 
selling  the  property.  Since  his  contract  had  expired 
and  I  had  given  him  no  further  authority  to  dispose  of 
it,  I  therefore  looked  upon  his  claim  as  a  manifesta 
tion  of  brazen  cheek  and  bluff.  I  paid  no  attention 
to  the  matter;  did  not  even  reply  to  his  letter.  After 
the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks  I  received  another  letter  from 
him  making  a  similar  claim  for  commission,  and  in 
quiring  if  I  had  received  his  former  letter.  I  paid  no 
attention  to  this  letter  either.  The  next  year  I  was 
served  with  a  summons  from  the  United  States  court 
in  the  case  of  E.  E.  Douville  vs.  The  Skinner  Manu 
facturing  Company.  I  called  on  Attorney  W.  A. 
Blount  and  engaged  him  to  defend  the  suit  He  told 
me  that  Douville  had  consulted  him  in  the  matter,  and 
he  had  told  him  that  from  his  own  story  he  had  no 
claim  for  commission.  It  seemed  that  after  my  inter 
view  with  Mr.  Blount,  Douville  had  called  on  him  and 
objected  to  his  appearing  for  the  defense,  and  Mr. 
Blount  notified  me  that  he  preferred  not  to  defend  the 
case;  but  said  that  suit  had  not  been  properly  brought 
and  he  would  knock  Mr.  Douville  out  in  that  court — 
which  he  did.  Douville  then  brought  action  in  the  state 
court  of  Florida  for  the  sum  of  $7,500,  and  we  had  to 
find  another  lawyer  to  defend  us  against  the  suit.  My 
son  suggested  Judge  Maxwell,  so  I  told  him  to  engage 
him  if  he  preferred.  When  court  convened  Mr.  Dou 
ville  did  not  appear;  his  lawyer,  however,  asked  for  a 
continuance,  and  said  that  if  we  took  judgment  by  de 
fault  he  was  instructed  to  begin  another  suit;  there 
fore  we  consented  to  an  adjournment. 

Soon  after  this  I  went  to  California  to  live.     At 


THE  REAL  ESTATE  AGENT  323 

the  next  term  of  court  it  was  not  convenient  for  me 
to  come  east  to  attend  the  trial,  so  I  asked  my  son  to 
request  Douville  to  put  it  over  the  term.  To  this  he 
consented  provided  we  would  agree  to  postpone  it  for 
one  year.  This  was  satisfactory  to  me,  as  I  did  not 
want  to  go  to  Florida  in  the  winter  time.  I  therefore 
came  to  Pensacola  but  a  short  time  before  the  trial,  and 
then  hacl  a  consultation  with  our  attorneys.  I  told 
them  that  I  did  not  believe  the  suit  would  ever  come 
to  trial — that  I  thought  it  was  all  bluff.  The  only 
thing  I  saw  in  the  suit  to  alarm  me  was  the  fact  that 
Douville  had  employed  a  lawyer  in  Pensacola  who  had 
an  unenviable  reputation  for  "fixing"  juries.  I  told 
my  lawyers  to  be  very  careful  and  get  all  the  infor 
mation  they  could  about  the  prospective  jurymen,  and 
they  promised  to  do  so.  My  son  could  not  well  be 
present  at  this  trial,  on  account  of  ill  health  of  his 
wife,  and  I  did  not  consider  it  necessary  that  he  should 
be  there. 


CHAPTER  XXVIIL 

WESTERN    WONDERLANDS. 

After  I  was  paralyzed  I  thought  I  would  seek  a 
more  congenial  clime  in  which  to  spend  the  remainder 
of  my  life,  if  such  I  could  find.  I  had  hearc^much  of 
the  glorious  climate  of  Southern  California  and  once 
had  visited  that  section.  I  decided  that  I  would  go  to 
Los  Angeles  and  make  a  systematic  investigation,  with 
the  idea  of  making  my  home  there.  I  wished,  in  the 
first  place,  to  obtain  a  satisfactory  dwelling.  I  visited 
a  great  many  places  offered  for  sale  in  both  Los  An 
geles  and  Pasadena.  In  the  last  named  place  I  saw 
a  very  attractive  home  on  Orange  Grove  Avenue,  which 
I  thought  of  buying.  The  furniture  which  was  in  the 
house  was  very  rich,  attractive,  and  appropriate  to  the 
setting  and  style  of  architecture,  and  I  desired  to  pur 
chase  it  if  I  took  the  place,  but  I  did  not  wish  to  make 
a  decision  until  I  had  seen  more  of  the  western  coast 
cities  of  our  states.  I  went  to  San  Diego  and  was 
much  pleased  with  that  city;  it  had  many  attrac 
tions,  but  I  was  not  favorably  impressed  with  the  pos 
sibilities  of  fruit  growing,  or  agriculture  in  that  vicin 
ity.  There  appeared  to  be  a  lack  of  water,  of  railroads 
and  of  shipping  facilities;  to  me  it  did  not  promise  to 
be  a  great  business  center  on  the  coast.  For  this  rea 
son  I  went  back  to  Los  Angeles  and  from  there  north. 
I  saw  many  excellent  localities  between  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Francisco,  but  I  gathered  the  impression  that 
they  were  too  quiet  and  would  be  dull  places  in  which 

324 


WESTERN    WONDERLANDS  325 

to  live,  so  I  went  on  farther  north.  I  was  prejudiced 
against  San  Francisco  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was 
controlled  by  a  corrupt  labor  element. 

Journeying  through  northern  California,  we  had  a 
beautiful  view  of  Mount  Shasta,  and  our  train  stop 
ped  at  Shasta  Springs,  where  an  aerated  spring  of  soda 
water  fell  over  rocks  of  a  wooded  bank,  which  termi 
nates  near  the  railroad.  From  what  I  could  see  of  it, 
in  the  evening  light,  I  thought  it  a  charming  place, 
which  I  mean  sometime  to  visit.  The  train  wound 
slowly  up  the  river,  the  grade  becoming  more  difficult 
as  we  proceeded.  We  continually  saw  evidences  of 
mining,  but  this  had  few  attractions  for  me  now. 

As  we  approached  Salem,  the  capital  of  the  state  of 
Oregon,  the  country  showed  more  evidence  of  culti 
vation,  and  we  saw  some  handsome  farms.  The  scen 
ery  from  Salem  down  the  Willamette  River  was  charm 
ing.  When  we  arrived  at  the  city  of  Portland  we  went 
to  Hotel  Portland,  which  was  a  house  of  much  ele 
gance  and  well  filled  with  guests.  The  world's  fair 
being  held  here  at  this  time  to  celebrate  the  discovery 
of  this  country  by  an  expedition  sent  out  by  President 
Jefferson  under  the  command  of  Clarke  and  Lewis,  ac 
counted  for  the  crowded  condition  of  the  hotels.  I  was 
much  pleased  with  the  city,  which  is  very  beautiful, 
and  has  many  fine  business  buildings  and  elegant  res 
idences.  The  greatest  charm  of  Portland  is  its  Hill 
Park,  being  a  portion  of  the  city  on  a  high  hill  crest 
overlooking  a  beautiful  view.  A  trolley  line  ascends 
this  mountain  on  one  side,  passing  through  this  park 
and  descends  on  the  other  side.  The  Falls  of  the  Wil 
lamette  are  on  the  south  side  of  the  town.  On  the 
river  just  above  the  falls  were  several  sawmills.  Be- 


326  REMINISCENCES 

low  the  falls  the  river  runs  through  the  city,  and  here 
are  located  the  steamboat  docks  for  the  boats  which 
navigate  the  Columbia  river  from  the  ocean  to  The 
Dalles. 

The  exposition  was  a  very  creditable  affair,  the  ex 
hibits  being  mostly  of  the  productions  of  the  North 
west.  The  United  States  had  its  Philippine  display 
there.  The  lumber  exhibits  of  the  state  were  also 
good.  We  went  to  The  Dalles  by  train  and  returned 
in  the  same  way.  The  scenery  was  occasionally  very 
fine,  but  I  did  not  see  any  of  the  fine  forests  which  are 
said  to  exist  in  the  state  of  Oregon. 

We  next  went  to  Tacoma,  Washington.  We  had 
some  fine  views  of  Mount  Hood  and  Mount  Tacoma ; 
there  was  so  much  rain  and  fog  that  it  was  only  oc 
casionally  that  we  could  get  good  views  of  them,  but 
their  white  summits  looked  very  grand  when  they  could 
be  seen.  Tacoma  appeared  to  have  more  life  and  bustle 
than  Portland.  It  seems  to  be  built  on  the  top  of  a 
high  hill,  from  which  a  good  view  can  be  had  of  that 
part  of  Puget  Sound  which  curves  by  the  city.  Many 
sawmills  line  the  shore  of  the  sound.  I  visited  that 
district  to  get  a  view  of  the  large  logs  that  abound  in 
the  state  of  Washington.  I  saw  some  that  were  eight 
or  ten  feet  in  diameter;  I  think  these  were  the  largest 
that  I  had  ever  seen.  I  have  heard  of  the  great  red 
wood  logs  of  California,  but  have  never  seen  them. 

I  stayed  about  a  week  here  and  then  went  north  to 
Seattle.  During  much  of  the  time  spent  in  that  city 
it  rained,  and  the  weather  was  foggy  and  cloudy.  The 
activity,  bustle  and  vim  of  the  town  struck  me  very 
favorably;  if  I  had  been  younger  and  an  able-bodied 
man  I  would  have  selected  Seattle  as  the  place  to 


WESTERN    WONDERLANDS  327 

make  my  Lome,  but  as  I  am  now  situated,  I  value  pleas 
ant  weather,  a  congenial  climate  and  less  range 
of  temperature.  I  had  now  seen  the  whole  west  coast, 
from  Mexico  to  British  Columbia,  and  I  selected  Los 
Angeles  as  the  place  in  which  to  spend  most  of  the 
days  left  me  of  life. 

We  returned  east  over  the  Northern  Pacific  rail 
road.  Before  leaving  Seattle  I  bought  tickets  for  the 
tour  of  the  Yellowstone  Park,  though  I  had  some 
doubts  as  to  whether  I  would  be  able  to  stand  the  jour 
ney.  On  the  train  we  made  the  acquaintance  of  a 
gentleman  and  his  wife  from  Akron,  Ohio.  He  was 
very  obliging  to  me  and  looked  out  for  my  comfort  all 
the  way  around  the  Park.  What  I  saw  in  Yellowstone 
Park  made  plain  many  things  about  geysers  and  other 
features  there  of  which  I  had  read  but  hardly  under 
stood.  A  great  deal  of  the  Park  is  denuded,  having 
been  burned  over  by  forest  fires.  It  appears  to  have 
been  covered  at  one  time  with  tall,  slim  timber,  which 
fell  after  being  burned,  and  the  trunks  nearly  cover  the 
ground.  Excellent  wagon  roads  had  been  built  by 
the  United  States  government;  a  company  of  United 
States  soldiers  policed  the  grounds  and  maintained 
strict  order  and  observance  of  regulations.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  train  at  the  Park  the  surreys  and  two, 
four  and  six-horse  coaches  met  the  passengers  and  took 
them  to  the  Mammoth  Hotel,  about  six  miles  distant 
from  the  terminus  of  the  railroad.  We  stayed  over 
night  here  and  had  very  comfortable  rooms. 

The  next  morning  the  stages  commenced  to  load  up 
with  passengers  to  the  number  of  about  three  hundred. 
We  traveled  until  noon,  when  we  stopped  at  the  Nor- 
ris  lunch  station.  There  was  a  great  crowd  here,  but 


328  REMINISCENCES 

after  an  hour's  wait  we  were  able  to  get  something 
to  eat.  Afterwards  we  proceeded  on  our  trip,  each 
passenger  taking  the  same  seat  in  the  coach  that  he 
occupied  when  he  left  Mammoth  Hot  Springs  in  the 
morning.  As  we  rode  on  we  saw  some  deer  in  the 
woods,  and  once  a  bear,  walking  at  his  leisure,  caused 
considerable  excitement  among  the  passengers.  Through 
the  action  of  the  government,  park  roads  have  been 
built  and  have  reached  a  high  state  of  perfection.  We 
arrived  at  Old  Faithful  Inn  in  time  for  supper,  and 
remained  there  over  night.  This  Inn  is  built  from 
slabs  of  the  trees  growing  in  that  vicinity,  and  from 
stone  quarried  in  the  neighborhood.  This  building  is 
very  picturesque  in  architecture  and  we  found  it  very 
comfortable  to  spend  the  night  here.  Some  forty  rods 
distant  from  the  Inn  is  the  Old  Faithful  geyser,  which 
spouts,  I  think,  every  hour  and  six  minutes.  It  throws 
up  steaming  hot  water  to  a  height  of  some  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  feet.  The  round  opening  where  the 
water  leaves  the  earth  is  about  eighteen  inches  in 
diameter.  All  through  the  Park  we  saw  many  hot 
springs,  some  in  varied  colors;  also  a  large  number  of 
geysers. 

After  our  enjoyable  night  at  Old  Faithful  Inn  we 
started  in  the  usual  order  the  next  morning.  We  took 
lunch  that  day  at  the  Thumb  lunch  station,  which  was 
a  stand-up  counter,  and  then  proceeded  to  the  Lake 
Hotel,  the  passengers  being  allowed  their  choice  of 
steamboat  or  stage.  We  spent  a  very  enjoyable  night 
on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  in  this  hotel. 

The  next  morning  we  proceeded  north  on  the  river 
to  Canyon  Hotel,  where  we  remained  over  night.  We 
saw  a  number  of  wild  animals  during  this  day's  trip, 


WESTERN    WONDERLANDS  329 

consisting  of  deer,  elk  and  other  species.  At  this 
hotel  they  have  a  custom  of  feeding  the  bear  after  sup 
per,  and  the  guests  go  out  to  watch  them  if  they  wish. 
All  the  waste  food  from  the  hotel  is  taken  out  and 
scattered  on  the  ground.  The  bears  will  walk  down  the 
hill,  singly  or  together,  eat  their  lunch  apparently  un 
concerned  at  the  crowd  of  people  standing  about.  Two 
soldiers  were  present  with  their  rifles  to  protect  the 
onlookers  should  occasion  arise.  A  short  distance  be 
low  the  hotel  the  government  has  built  an  arched  bridge 
of  cement  across  the  river  to  the  government  road  on 
the  other  side  of  the  chasm. 

The  next  morning  we  rode  down  to  the  river,  where 
we  obtained  a  fine  view  of  the  falls  and  the  rushing 
torrent  which  sweeps  below.  The  scenery  was 
grand,  such  as  we  do  not  often  see,  and  it  impresses 
upon  man  the  mystery  of  Nature.  After  some  more 
sight  seeing  in  the  neighborhood  we  continued  our 
journey  to  Norris  lunch  station  and  from  there  pro 
ceeded  on  our  homeward  way  to  Mammoth  Hot 
Springs,  from  where  we  were  taken  to  Gardiner.  Later 
we  took  the  train  and  went  to  bed  in  our  sleeper. 

In  the  morning  we  found  ourselves  at  Livingston 
and  our  coach  attached  to  the  train  for  Minneapolis, 
traveling  through  the  interesting  grain  country  of 
North  Dakota  and  Minnesota.  We  visited  a  niece  liv 
ing  in  Minneapolis,  and  from  there  took  the  train  on 
the  Wisconsin  Central  railroad  for  Oshkosh. 

We  had  not  visited  this  city  for  some  ten  years.  We 
spent  several  weeks  there  and  went  to  Chicago,  and 
about  the  last  of  October  started  for  Pensacola.  We 
went  as  far  as  Nashville,  where  we  remained  until  the 
yellow  fever  scare  abated,  then  continued  on  our  way 


330  REMINISCENCES 

south,  to  Pensacola.  We  stopped  with  our  son  at  that 
place  until  February  of  the  next  year,  when  my  wife, 
my  son  and  myself  went  by  the  way  of  the  Southern 
Pacific  railroad  to  southern  California,  once  more  to 
try  and  select  a  permanent  home. 

Arriving  at  Los  Angeles  I  learned  that  the  house  on 
Orange  Grove  Avenue,  Pasadena,  had  been  sold.  We 
went  to  Hollywood  to  board,  at  the  Hollywood  Hotel, 
which  was  a  very  admirable  hostelry.  We  looked  at  a 
number  of  places  with  a  view  of  buying  there,  but  my 
son  preferred  a  home  in  Los  Angeles,  although  the 
transportation  by  trolley  between  the  two  places  was 
quick  and  easy. 

We  spent  many  days  looking  at  different  places  in 
Los  Angeles,  but  we  finally  saw  one  which  pleased  my 
wife  and  son  very  much;  they  expressed  their  admira 
tion  of  the  place  and  said  they  would  be  delighted  to 
have  it  for  a  home.  My  son  was  anxious  to  return  to 
his  family  in  Pensacola,  so  departed  soon  for  Florida. 
I  then  began  negotiations  for  the  property,  which  I 
soon  brought  to  a  conclusion.  The  owner  and  builder 
of  the  place  had  died  just  as  the  house  neared  comple 
tion,  since  which  time  it  had  been  in  possession  of  a 
care-taker.  It  was  beautifully  furnished  and  I  desired 
to  buy  the  furniture  with  the  house,  but  the  heirs  re 
fused  to  part  with  it. 

The  house  is  about  75  feet  long  and  35  feet  wide, 
and  consists  of  two  stories  and  a  basement.  The  lat 
ter  contains  the  heating  furnace,  a  large  billiard  room, 
two  bed  rooms,  a  bath  room,  and  one  very  large  room, 
50  feet  long  by  25  feet  wide,  which  has  a  cement  floor. 
The  front  portion  of  the  main  floor  is  so  connected 
that  it  is  practically  one  room.  The  end  of  this  space 


WESTERN   WONDERLANDS  331 

towards  the  north  is  the  parlor,  the  opposite  end  being 
the  living  room,  and  between  these  two  is  a  reception 
hall  20  feet  square.  Beside  the  parlor  is  the  dining 
room,  while  opening  from  the  living  room  is  the  li 
brary,  flower  room  and  den.  Facing  the  entrance  in 
the  hall  is  the  stairway,  which  is  of  oak,  having  a  spa 
cious  landing  half  way  between  the  floors.  There  is 
a  great  deal  of  fine  wood  carving  in  the  construction 
of  this  stairway.  Much  of  the  lower  floor  is  finished 
in  English  oak,  and  the  wainscoting  is  paneled;  the 
dining  room,  parlor,  hall  and  living  room  are  beam- 
ceiled.  The  flower  room,  library  and  den  are  finished 
in  mahogany.  In  the  dining  room  is  a  fireplace  with 
china  cabinet  above.  On  one  side  of  the  room  is  the 
butler's  pantry,  beyond  this  is  the  kitchen,  and  other 
work  rooms  with  a  stairway  to  the  basement.  From 
the  reception  hall,  passing  under  the  stairs  leading  to 
the  second  floor,  is  the  staircase  leading  to  the  bil 
liard  room  and  the  other  rooms  in  the  basement.  At 
the  end  of  the  living  room  is  a  very  beautiful  fireplace 
of  marble  said  to  have  been  quarried  in  California. 

On  the  second  floor  a  long  hall  opens  into  numerous 
bedrooms,  closets  and  bathrooms.  These  rooms  are 
all  finished  in  white  enamel  and  several  of  them  are 
very  large  and  fine.  On  the  staircase  landing  is  a  fine 
window  of  leaded  and  stained  glass,  presenting  in  beau 
tiful  colors  the  graceful  figures  of  a  youth  and  maiden. 
The  rich  lights  thrown  upon  the  hall  from  this  win 
dow  is  one  of  the  many  attractions  of  the  house.  In  the 
library  the  cases  are  built  in  the  walls,  the  face  being 
of  leaded  glass  doors,  curvilinear  in  shape. 

In  its  exterior  view  the  house  is  of  the  Mission  style 
of  architecture.  The  ground  upon  which  it  is  built 


332  REMINISCENCES 

approaches  the  crest  of  a  hill,  affording  a  most  beau 
tiful  view  over  nearby  lawns  and  gardens,  then  over 
the  rolling  expanse  lying  between  Los  Angeles  and  the 
sea.  The  slope  of  the  ground  is  such  that  the  house 
stands  two  stories  at  the  front  and  three  in  the  rear. 

Since  purchasing  the  place  I  have  cemented  a  road 
way  past  one  side,  built  a  garage  of  the  same  style  of 
architecture  as  the  house,  and  by  means  of  a  retain 
ing  wall,  levelling  the  ground  between  by  filling,  and 
cementing  the  surface,  an  excellent  court  is  afforded 
between  the  house  and  the  garage.  The  rest  of  the 
yard  I  have  terraced,  set  out  to  trees,  roses  and  other 
flowers,  and  have  built  a  play  house  and  arbor  for  the 
children — not  only  my  own  six  grandchildren,  but  it 
is  a  favorite  resort  for  the  little  folk  of  the  neighbor 
hood  on  pleasant  evenings.  The  house,  garage  and 
playhouse  are  brilliantly  lighted  by  electricity. 

This  house  with  its  pleasant  surroundings  is  located 
in  a  most  beautiful  climate.  I  intend  to  retain  it  as 
a  home  for  myself  and  wife,  and  for  my  descendants 
as  long  as  they  may  wish  to  occupy  it. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

MINING   ROMANCES. 

There  are  some  detached  incidents  which  occurred 
during  my  stay  in  Nevada,  which  I  wish  to  relate.  I 
resided  in  Austin,  Nevada,  from  September,  1863,  to 
November,  1865,  and  while  there  I  corresponded  for 
the  Milwaukee  Sentinel.  I  was  therefore  wide-awake 
to  any  incident  which  I  felt  would  be  of  interest  to  the 
readers  of  that  paper. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  Mr.  French  while  here. 
He  had  been  a  miner  during  the  early  days  of  placer 
mining  in  California.  He  related  an  incident  to  me 
in  which  he  had  been  a  participant  and  which  on  ac 
count  of  its  dramatic  interest  made  a  lasting  impression 
on  me.  At  the  time  I  made  no  memorandum  of  the  ac 
count,  and  though  I  have  thought  many  times  to  put  it 
in  writing,  it  has  waited  until  the  present  tima 

Mr.  French  was  placer  mining  on  the  Sacramento 
River.  Each  man  of  the  camp  had  pre-empted  a  small 
piece  of  ground  for  mining,  and  the  little  log  cabins 
placed  on  higher  ground  for  protection  against  the 
water,  usually  held  two  occupants  who  cabined  together 
and  did  their  own  cooking.  They  worked  day  times  on 
their  respective  mining  claims  with  pan  and  shovel.  If 
a  miner  had  a  suitable  claim  he  washed  the  gold  out  of 
the  gravel  with  a  sluice.  This  was  constructed  by  mak 
ing  a  long  box  from  boards  and  nailing  across  the  bot 
tom  of  this  cleats  of  wood,  to  catch  and  hold  the  gold  as 

333 


334  REMINISCENCES 

it  was  washed  from  the  gravel.  Sometimes  quicksilver 
was  placed  behind  these  cleats,  which  would  retain  the 
fine  gold  lost  in  case  of  a  too  liberal  supply  of  water. 
The  miners,  when  too  busy,  would  let  the  deposit  of 
gold  accumulate  in  the  trough  for  several  days  until  the 
latter  needed  cleaning  out,  as  the  time  was  lost  to  the 
working  of  the  claim  while  cleaning  out  the  sluices. 
Capital  punishment  was  administered  in  those  days  to 
anyone  who  robbed  the  sluices.  A  miner  s  gold  savings 
were  sacred  and  it  was  death  to  the  thief  who  stole 
them.  Judge  Lynch  tried  the  criminal  and  executed  him 
on  the  spot  wherever  such  a  crime  had  been  committed. 
One  morning  it  was  discovered  in  the  camp  where 
Mr.  French  was  located,  that  the  sluice  containing  the 
savings  of  two  or  three  days  had  been  robbed  the  pre 
ceding  night.  This  announcement  electrified  the  miners 
and  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  camp  was 
called  at  once.  Suspicion  fell  upon  a  miner  living  in 
that  district  and  a  committee  was  sent  to  arrest  him. 
Judge  Lynch  was  elected  to  hold  court;  a  jury  was 
impaneled  and  sworn  and  the  trial  commenced.  The 
evidence  was  all  circumstantial,  the  judge  charged  the 
jury,  and  the  jury  without  leaving  their  seats  under 
the  oak  where  the  trial  was  held,  began  to  deliberate  on 
their  verdict.  The  defendant  had  urgently  declared  his 
innocence,  but  several  of  the  jurymen  announced  their 
opinion  that  the  defendant  was  guilty.  When  it  came 
to  Mr.  French's  turn  to  express  his  opinion,  he  declared 
his  belief  in  the  defendant's  innocence,  or,  at  least,  that 
he  saw  no  evidence  to  prove  that  the  accused  had  com 
mitted  the  crime.  He  made  a  vigorous  speech  to  support 
his  opinion,  when  a  bystander  made  an  insulting  re 
mark  impugning  his  own  honesty;  to  this  Mr.  French 


MINING  ROMANCES  335 

replied  that  he  would  hold  him  responsible  when 
his  present  duties  were  over.  This  meant  war  to  the 
knife  and  the  knife  to  the  hilt  The  jury  finally  dis 
agreed,  there  being  about  eight  for  conviction  and  four 
for  acquittal.  The  execution  of  the  prisoner  was  thus 
prevented — but  a  robbery  had  been  committed  and  the 
mob  demanded  a  victim,  so  it  was  decided  that  the 
accused  should  be  whipped  and  banished  from  the  camp. 
Mr.  French  pleaded  with  the  crowd  not  to  do  so  griev 
ous  a  wrong.  The  prisoner  defied  his  persecutors  and 
threatened  to  hold  any  man  responsible  who  applied  a 
whip  to  his  back,  but  in  spite  of  his  protests,  he  was 
tied  to  the  oak  tree  and  three  men  volunteered  to  apply 
the  lash.  The  punishment  administered  was  very  se 
vere,  but  the  prisoner  never  uttered  a  groan;  and  later 
he  was  driven  out  of  camp. 

The  excitement  of  the  affair  died  away  and  some 
thing  like  a  year  expired,  when  one  morning  a  man 
appeared  at  the  door  of  Mr.  French's  cabin  whom  he 
recognized  as  the  man  accused  of  the  theft.  The  fu 
gitive  said  he  was  very  hungry,  that  he  had  had  noth 
ing  to  eat  for  several  days  and  was  nearly  famished,  and 
asked  Mr.  French  if  he  would  give  him  something  to 
eat,  and  not  betray  him.  Mr.  French  expressed  his 
sympathy  for  the  man  and  his  willingness  to  befriend 
him.  He  cooked  and  set  before  him  the  best  breakfast 
that  his  cabin  afforded.  The  outcast  said  to  Mr.  French 
that  he  had  a  wife  and  family  living  in  the  states,  that 
he  had  the  strongest  love  and  affection  for  his  wife,  that 
he  did  not  feel  that  he  could  write  and  tell  her  of  the 
circumstances  under  which  he  was  burdened,  and  he 
asked  Mr.  French  if  he  was  willing  to  write  a  letter  to 
her  and  sign  it,  expressing  a  belief  in  his  innocence ;  he 


336  BEMINISCENCES 

said  that  if  he  could  get  such  a  letter  written  by  Mr. 
French,  he  would  then  feel  like  writing  to  her  himself 
and  asking  her  to  come  to  California  and  live  with 
him.  He  said  that  he  had  been  quite  lucky  in  a  distant 
mining  camp  and  had  the  prospect  of  making  a  com 
fortable  home  for  her. 

Mr.  French  wrote  the  letter  as  desired,  expressing 
the  utmost  confidence  in  the  man  and  his  belief  in  his 
innocence  as  to  the  crime  charged.  He  handed  the  man 
the  letter;  the  latter  expressed  his  heartfelt  thanks  for 
all  the  kindness  he  had  received,  and  departed.  Mr. 
French  told  him  that  if  he  ever  came  that  way  again, 
to  come  into  his  cabin  and  help  himself  if  he  were 
hungry  and  the  cabin  unoccupied  at  the  time. 

Some  time  afterwards,  one  of  the  three  men  who  had 
flogged  the  prisoner  was  found  dead  in  the  woods.  Six 
months  later  another  of  the  three  men  was  found  shot 
to  death  in  the  same  way.  The  third  man  was  in  terror 
of  the  fate  awaiting  him  and  fled  from  the  country.  Mr. 
French  said  that  several  years  later  he  was  stopping  in 
San  Francisco,  when  one  day  on  the  ferry  boat  he 
chanced  to  meet  the  suspected  man.  He  appeared  to  be 
very  much  pleased  to  see  his  benefactor  and  asked  him 
to  go  home  with  him  and  see  his  wife.  Mr.  French  was 
introduced  to  a  very  charming  woman  and  a  fine  family 
of  children.  The  man  at  that  time  was  engaged  in  busi 
ness  in  San  Francisco.  Mr.  French  gave  me  the  man's 
name,  which  I  remember  very  distinctly.  I  frequently 
eaw  the  name  in  the  San  Francisco  papers,  but  whether 
it  was  the  man  who  was  the  hero  of  this  story  or  not  I 
do  not  know.  It  may  have  been  the  name  of  one  of  his 
children,  or  of  a  member  of  another  family.  Whether 


MINING  ROMANCES  337 

he  had  taken  retributive  justice  on  his  tormentors  is  a 
matter  entirely  of  imagination. 

While  living  in  Nevada  I  heard  many  stories  of  the 
argonauts  of  early  times.  I  recollect  one  told  of  a  party 
of  immigrants  who  were  induced  to  take  the  southern 
trail  to  California,  owing  to  the  tales  they  had  heard 
of  the  Mountain  Meadow  massacre,  which  had  been  the 
work  of  the  "Avenging  Angels"  of  the  Mormon  Church ; 
these  tales  caused  them  to  take  a  more  southern  route 
to  avoid  a  like  fate.  After  crossing  the  Colorado  River 
in  South  Utah  they  passed  north  of  the  Grand  Canon 
into  the  Territory  of  Nevada.  They  escaped  the  Mor 
mons,  but  met  an  equally  tragic  fate  in  Death's  Valley, 
where  they  suffered  terrible  hardships  from  heat  and 
lack  of  water.  All  but  three  met  death  there.  Often 
these  despairing  travelers  would  see  lakes  of  water  ahead 
of  them,  which  would  revive  their  despondent  spirits 
until  the  deception  of  Nature  was  disclosed  by  their 
finding  that  what  they  had  supposed  to  be  a  lake  was 
but  an  alkali  flat.  In  southern  Nevada  they  discovered 
some  very  rich  mines  of  gold,  but  they  could  not  take 
advantage  of  such  a  fortune,  owing  to  their  meagre 
supply  of  food  for  themselves  and  their  teams.  It  was 
necessary  to  move  on  as  fast  as  possible  in  order  to 
reach  some  place  where  they  could  get  supplies  before 
their  food  was  exhausted ;  then  they  counted  on  return 
ing  to  the  rich  mines  which  they  had  discovered.  The 
country  east  of  California  was  practically  unknown. 
The  travelers  pushed  on  until  they  entered  Death's  Val 
ley,  where  there  was  no  water  and  it  did  not  rain.  This 
valley  is  said  to  be  three  hundred  feet  below  the  sea 
level. 

This  immigrant  train  was  well  equipped,  well  manned 


338  REMINISCENCES 

and  well  supplied.  It  consisted  of  about  twenty-five 
human  beings  when  they  entered  the  valley,  but  their 
scant  supply  of  water  was  soon  exhausted,  their  stock 
soon  drooped  and  died,  and  their  bones  were  left  to 
bleach  in  the  torrid  sun.  The  men  after  a  day  or  two 
began  to  fall  in  the  same  way ;  three  of  the  party,  after 
enduring  indescribable  sufferings,  finally  reached  an 
inhabited  locality  in  California,  where  they  told  of  the 
sufferings  and  tragic  deaths  of  their  companions,  and  of 
the  riches  they  had  discovered  in  Nevada. 

Some  hopeful  prospectors  engaged  two  of  these  men 
to  guide  them  to  the  mines,  but  the  latter  had  lost  their 
reckoning  and  could  find  nothing  which  they  remem 
bered  to  guide  them  to  the  locality  of  the  lost  mines. 
Only  the  remnants  of  the  outfit  and  the  bones  of  the 
immigrants  and  the  stock  were  found  bleaching  on  the 
trail.  It  had  become  an  incident  forgotten  by  nearly 
all  except  the  adventurous  gold  seeker  who  chanced  this 
way.  When  I  was  in  Austin  the  story  of  this  immi 
grant  party  was  revived ;  the  third  survivor  of  the  trag 
edy  had  told  his  tale  to  some  hopeful  prospectors  and 
under  his  lead  a  party  started  for  southern  Nevada  to 
rediscover  the  lost  mines.  I  was  invited  to  join  this 
party  and  had  some  thoughts  of  going.  By  most  people 
the  mines  were  regarded  as  a  myth,  formed  in  the  brains 
of  the  survivors'  fevered  fancies,  and  caused  by  their 
terrible  sufferings.  The  mining  party  returned  with 
no  more  success  than  the  former  attempts. 

The  remembrance  of  this  story  had  almost  passed 
from  my  mind,  but  after  I  went  to  Los  Angeles  to  live 
I  read  of  the  discovery  of  gold  at  Bullfrog,  Goldfield 
and  other  points  in  southern  Nevada,  and  concluded 
these  might  have  been  the  mines  which  were  first  found 


MINING  ROMANCES  339 

under  such  unhappy  circumstances  by  the  unfortunate 
immigrants. 

When  I  went  to  Austin  in  1863  it  was  stated  that 
there  were  five  thousand  inhabitants  in  and  about  the 
town.  The  town  was  built  in  a  canon  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Toyiabe  mountains.  The  overland  stages  crossed 
through  this  canon,  the  course  of  the  mountains  being 
north  and  south.  West  of  the  range  was  a  large  valley 
covered  with  sage  bush,  which  was  known  as  Reese 
River  Valley.  Through  this,  about  six  miles 
from  Austin  flowed  the  river  toward  the  north.  It  was 
an  insignificant  stream  which  disappeared  after  flowing 
some  distance.  About  ten  months  of  the  year  it  did  not 
rain  in  the  vicinity  of  Austin ;  in  December  and  Janu 
ary  we  had  some  slight  showers  and  occasionally  some 
falls  of  "beautiful  snow."  The  bottom  of  the  canon 
rose  quite  rapidly  as  you  ascended  it  toward  the  sum 
mit,  making  the  appearance  of  the  habitations  pictur 
esque  in  the  extreme. 

There  was  not  much  available  material  in  this  vicin 
ity  for  house  building,  except  stones  and  rock  and  the 
small  pinon  pines  which  grew  on  the  mountains  and 
from  which  poles  and  posts  could  be  obtained.  Prob 
ably  one-half  the  people  lived  in  tents.  Cotton  cloth  was 
the  principal  material  used  for  roofing.  The  soil  was 
largely  adobe,  from  which  were  made  sun  dried  bricks 
for  the  walls  of  the  houses ;  these  walls  were  very  sub 
stantial,  and  on  them  were  laid  poles  for  rafters  on 
which  was  spread  cotton  cloth  for  the  roof;  cotton  cloth 
was  also  used  for  ceilings.  The  soil  packed  hard  made  a 
floor  about  as  clean  as  if  made  of  wood. 

I  lived  in  a  little  house  of  this  kind,  perhaps  18  feet 
by  30  feet,  for  more  than  a  year.  We  put  up  three 


340  REMINISCENCES 

bunks  to  accommodate  the  three  occupants  of  the  place, 
in  the  end  of  the  house  opposite  the  fireplace.  These 
occupants  were  John  P.  Kelly,  a  nephew  of  the  then 
governor  of  Kentucky,  a  civil  engineer;  John  Doyle,  a 
miner  who  said  he  was  a  Welshman,  but  whose  name 
always  struck  me  as  being  Irish,  and  the  author  of  these 
Reminiscences.  Each  had  his  duties  to  perform.  I 
believe  we  had  but  two  meals  a  day ;  I  cooked  the  break 
fast,  of  fried  bacon,  boiled  potatoes  and  bread.  Kelly 
washed  the  dishes  and  Jack  Doyle  got  supper.  We  spent 
many  of  our  evenings  playing  chess  or  reading  by  candle 
light,  as  we  had  to  rely  upon  tallow  dips  for  our  evening 
light.  We  three  were  about  equally  skillful  in  a  game 
of  chess ;  of  course  only  two  could  play  at  a  time,  and 
the  third  member  was  of  necessity  an  onlooker  of  the 
game.  Very  often  he  could  see  chances  of  attack  or 
defense  which  would  escape  the  players,  and  he  would 
sometimes  make  remarks  which  would  annoy  or  vex  one 
of  the  players,  and  perhaps  the  game  would  end  with  a 
little  ill-feeling;  this,  however,  soon  subsided. 

The  chief  hotel  of  the  town  was  called  the  Interna 
tional  ;  it  was  a  two-story  building  of  adobe  and  lumber 
hauled  by  ox  teams  from  the  Sierras,  250  miles  distant 
and  costing  $400  per  thousand  feet;  it  was  used  for 
joist,  floors  and  rafters.  The  principal  attraction  of 
the  place  was  called  the  Stone  Saloon.  It  was  a  one- 
story  building  with  walls  of  stone,  dimensions  about 
twenty-five  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  (or  more)  feet  in 
length.  The  entrance  was  on  the  principal  street  and 
not  far  from  the  hotel.  As  one  entered,  upon  the  left 
was  a  large,  gaudy  bar,  disbursing  liquors.  On  the  right 
was  a  cigar  counter,  this  luxury  selling  fifteen  cents 
each  or  two  for  a  quarter  of  a  dollar,  and  drinks  were 


MINING  ROMANCES  341 

sold  at  about  the  same  rate.  Passing  the  bar  the  rest 
of  the  room  was  lined  with  tables  for  the  playing  of 
games  of  chance,  and  these  were  occupied  by  the  players 
and  surrounded  by  sight-seers.  In  about  the  center  of 
the  room  (or  hall)  was  erected  a  platform  upon  which 
a  band  of  musicians  generally  played.  About  every  half 
hour  a  female  opera  singer  who  had  seen  her  best  days 
would  come  out  and  sing  a  selection,  during  which  time 
most  of  the  games  would  be  suspended.  Some  of  the 
tables  were  presided  over  by  comely  females  who  acted 
as  dealers  for  the  bank.  These  attracted  the  average 
miner,  for  he  could  lose  his  money  with  a  better  grace 
to  such  a  banker  than  to  a  man.  It  is  wonderful  the 
attraction  that  a  female  possessed  over  these  miners  who 
perhaps  had  not  seen  a  woman  for  years.  There  were  a 
great  many  games  here  for  driving  dull  care  away.  This 
part  of  my  life,  however,  is  so  long  ago  that  I  have 
forgotten  most  of  the  games,  the  more  so,  as  I  never 
gambled  myself ;  I  might  remember  better  had  I  been  a 
player.  I  have  never  seen  similar  orgies  since  I  left 
Austin. 

On  the  foothills  of  the  mountain  range  there  grew 
every  spring  a  very  excellent  forage  plant  called  bunch- 
grass,  which  sustained  large  herds  of  cattle  pastured  in 
the  valley ;  it  made  good  "feed"  for  summer  and  winter. 
It  grew  in  the  spring  and  dried  on  the  bunch  in  summer, 
but  retained  all  of  its  nutritive  value. 

The  usual  modes  of  travel  were  foot  and  horseback. 
Occasionally  a  light  wagon  would  find  its  way  to  the 
town,  but  most  journeys  were  made  on  horseback.  I 
found  here  some  of  the  easiest  riding  horses  that  I  ever 
bestrode,  and  I  became  very  fond  of  the  saddle. 

I  have  many  times  thought  I  would  revisit  the  place 


34:2  REMINISCENCES 

and  see  how  it  looked  now,  but  I  presume  that  is  un 
likely.  The  class  of  people  I  met  there  were  very  intelli 
gent;  a  great  many  of  them  were  college  bred.  The 
young  man  who  wished  to  make  a  fortune  quickly ;  the 
man  who  had  lost  his  fortune  in  the  East  and  wished  to 
make  another;  the  politician  who  had  lost  his  hold  on 
the  public,  came  west  to  grow  up  with  the  country.  I 
never  was  lonesome  while  I  lived  there,  and  I  often 
resolved  to  bring  my  family  here  to  live;  but  it  is  the 
lot  of  man  to  make  plans  for  the  future  which  are  over 
ruled  by  circumstances,  as  they  were  in  my  case.  The 
kind  of  life  I  led  there  had  great  attractions  for  me.  It 
was  a  free  and  easy,  devil-may-care  sort  of  existence, 
perhaps  the  most  natural  life  one  can  enjoy.  The  only 
thing  that  gave  me  a  feeling  of  unrest  was  the  absence 
of  my  wife  and  boy,  they  being  still  in  the  States, 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

RECAPITULATION. 

My  business  experience  led  me  to  adopt  certain  rules 
by  which  to  be  governed.  One  was  never  to  put  money 
where  I  could  not  control  it  myself;  another  was  not 
to  give  accommodation  endorsements  to  others.  When 
I  feel  it  is  right,  and  wish  to  help  someone,  I  prefer  to 
loan  him  the  money,  take  his  note,  and,  if  necessary, 
put  my  own  notes  in  the  bank.  I  believe  that  no  note 
which  I  have  given  has  ever  been  protested;  all  have 
been  paid  when  due  or  extended  by  mutual  consent 
My  observation  is  that  few  men,  companies  or  corpo 
rations  escape  the  necessity  of  borrowing  money  for  use 
in  their  business;  some  require  credit  occasionally, 
others  all  the  time.  I  learned  also  that  in  order  to 
make  money  a  man  must  take  chances,  otherwise  he 
will  fail  to  make  a  fortune.  I  have  always  found  that 
it  paid  to  be  truthful  in  all  business  transactions.  I 
have  lost  much  through  the  failure  of  others,  and  I 
have  usually  found  that  the  men  who  have  deceived  me 
are  men  who  boast  of  their  honor  and  integrity  and 
made  a  cloak  of  religion.  I  prefer  to  give  such  peo 
ple  a  wide  berth  and  allow  them  no  opportunity  to 
cheat  or  defraud.  I  have  found  it  very  hard  to  for 
get  or  forgive  a  person  who  has  deliberately  insulted 
or  defrauded  me;  my  disposition  in  this  respect  has 
often  resulted  in  loss  financially.  I  was  brought  up 
to  be  economical,  and  this  has  been  one  of  my  leading 

343 


344:  REMINISCENCES 

characteristics.  When  a  person  has  once  gained  my 
confidence,  I  am  very  loyal  to  him  until  I  have  posi 
tive  evidence  of  his  treachery,  but  when  I  have  once 
reposed  trust  in  a  person  and  he  betrays  it,  it  is  im 
possible  for  me  to  trust  him  again.  The  first  time  a 
person  deceives  me  it  is  his  fault,  the  second  time  it  is 
my  fault.  I  cannot  say  that  my  judgment  in  likes  and 
dislikes  is  always  correct,  but  I  am  careful  never  to 
betray  a  friend  or  do  an  act  which  I  think  dishon 
orable. 

During  my  boyhood  days  I  was  under  an  influence 
intensely  religious.  I  have  no  doubt  that  my  mother 
believed  that  if  she  prayed  to  God  that  He  listened  and 
would  answer  the  petition.  I  was  taught  that  I  was 
under  the  constant  surveillance  of  the  Deity.  The  anec 
dote  I  have  told  before,  of  the  Sunday  when  I  went 
bathing  and  cut  my  foot  on  an  old  axe  in  the  water, 
and  how  I  managed  to  walk  home,  though  the  injury 
was  a  serious  one  and  the  comfort  I  had  received  was 
the  assurance  that  the  punishment  was  inflicted  on  me 
because  "I  was  breaking  the  Sabbath."  This  is  a  sam 
ple  of  the  religious  conviction  under  which  I  was 
trained. 

All  the  boys  in  our  neighborhood  were  kept  steadily 
employed  week  days,  and  Sunday  was  about  the  only 
day  in  which  we  could  play.  Indeed,  I  was  so  con 
fined  that  I  had  scarcely  an  opportunity  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  that  day  even.  Occasionally  I  would  pro 
vide  myself  with  a  gun  and  go  hunting,  but  game  was 
scarce  and  there  was  not  much  pleasure  in  the  sport. 
The  most  of  my  boyhood  pleasures  were  obtained  by 
visiting  neighboring  children  after  dark;  as  we  had, 
however,  no  neighbors  who  lived  less  than  half  a  mile 


BECAPITULATION  345 

from  our  house,  my  social  intercourse  was  quite  lim 
ited. 

My  father  was  a  dignified,  austere  man ;  he  believed 
that  to  spare  the  rod  was  to  spoil  the  child.  I  have 
no  recollections  of  his  taking  me  on  his  knee  or  play 
ing  with  me;  yet  he  was  a  very  kind  and  honorable 
man.  He  was  known  in  the  neighborhood  where  he 
lived  as  Uncle  Alfred.  My  earliest  recollection  of  my 
father  was  when  he  was  about  sixty  years  old.  He  was 
a  strong,  sturdy  man  of  about  180  pounds  weight.  The 
top  of  his  head  was  bald  with  a  fringe  of  white  hair 
beneath.  He  wore,  if  I  remember  correctly,  a  No. 
7  1-2  hat.  When  dressed  for  church  the  hat  was  a  tall 
one.  He  wore  a  stock  about  his  neck,  and  a  blue 
swallow-tailed  coat  with  brass  buttons.  He  was  a  fine 
appearing  man. 

The  following  story  will  illustrate  my  father's  high 
sense  of  honor.  I  sold  a  colt  to  a  neighbor  for  $100  and 
the  man  came  for  the  horse,  as  agreed.  My  father  met 
him  at  the  gate  and  said:  "Mr.  Low,  Emory  tells  me 
that  he  has  sold  the  colt  to  you  for  $100."  Mr.  Low  re 
plied  that  it  was  so.  "I  do  not  think  the  colt  worth  as 
much  as  that,  and  you  may  have  it  for  $80,"  said  my 
father.  I  protested  that  I  would  not  sell  it  for  that 
price,  and  Mr.  Low  paid  the  $100  and  took  the  colt. 
I,  perhaps,  had  a  better  knowledge  of  what  the  animal 
was  worth  than  my  father  had,  although  I  was  but  six 
teen  years  old  at  the  time.  But  this  incident  serves  to 
illustrate  the  honorable  character  of  my  father.  It  was 
his  custom  every  morning  to  read  a  chapter  in  the 
Bible  and  have  family  prayers.  He  always  repeated 
the  same  prayer.  When  I  was  a  lad  I  tried  hard  to 
learn  that  prayer,  but  some  way  was  never  able  to  com- 


346  REMINISCENCES 

mit  it  to  memory.  At  the  beginning  of  each  meal  he 
also  asked  a  blessing,  and  it  was  worded  the  same,  but 
that  blessing  I  was  never  able  to  repeat.  In  spite  of 
this  custom  of  praying  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  re 
ligious  convictions  of  my  father  did  not  run  very  deep. 
I  think  that  his  father — my  grandfather — Stephen 
Skinner,  of  whom  I  have  but  a  faint  recollection,  as 
he  died  when  I  was  about  nine  years  old,  was  an  Epis 
copalian,  and  that  my  father  was  brought  up  in  that 
faith,  but  became  a  Methodist  after  his  marriage  to 
my  mother.  She  had  become  converted  after  her  mar 
riage  and  became  very  religious.  She  was  somewhat 
noted  in  the  neighborhood  for  her  ability  to  make  an 
eloquent  prayer.  My  father  told  me  that  she  was  a 
very  handsome  girl  when  he  married  her.  As  I  re 
member  her,  she  was  quite  stout,  weighing  perhaps  160 
pounds.  She  did  not  exceed  5  feet  6  inches  in  height. 
She  had  long,  coal  black  hair,  which  retained  its  color 
up  to  the  time  of  her  death,  and  it  was  her  custom  to 
wear  a  lace  cap  over  it.  She  had  sharp,  black  eyes, 
long  eyebrows,  a  strong  nose,  high  cheeked  bones  and  a 
brunette  complexion.  She  was  but  fifteen  years  old 
when  married,  my  father  being  six  years  older.  This 
was  in  1802.  She  was  the  mother  of  fifteen  children, 
of  which  I  was  the  youngest.  My  parents  both  lived 
to  be  over  ninety  years  of  age.  They  would  have  cele- 
ebrated  their  diamond  wedding  anniversary  had  my 
father  lived  a  year  longer.  Considering  the  number  of 
children  my  mother  had  to  care  for,  she  was  very  kind 
to  us  all.  She  had  a  failing  of  bursting  into  tears  at 
the  slightest  censure. 

I  have  seen  nothing  in  recent  educational  methods 
that  seems  equal  to  the  country  schools  (of  our  local- 


RECAPITULATION  34:7 

ity)  in  my  youth.  They  seldom  taught  anything  ex 
cept  the  common  branches  of  education,  but  the  chil 
dren  were  taught  very  thoroughly  in  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic  and  geography.  A  child,  if  he  tried,  could 
get  a  good  practical  education  in  these  schools,  and  for 
those  who  desired  higher,  there  was  the  academy,  then 
a  feature  of  nearly  every  village. 

In  my  own  school  work  the  study  in  which  I  ex 
celled  was  geography,  and  it  has  only  been  in  later  years 
that  I  would  fail  if  any  part  of  the  earth  were  men 
tioned  to  tell  where  it  was  located. 

When  I  was  a  little  chap  I  spent  much  of  the  time 
in  the  house  with  my  mother,  her  daughters  having  all 
married  and  left  home.  My  mother  and  the  "hired 
girl"  did  not  tease  me  as  did  my  older  brothers.  I 
remember  many  things  which  my  mother  told  me  about 
her  own  father  in  those  days ;  she  had  great  respect  and 
admiration  for  his  memory.  He  was  born  in  Francis- 
town,  N.  H.,  in  1765.  According  to  American  Ar 
chives,  Vol.  6,  p.  1120,  he  enlisted  from  that  place  May 
7th,  1782,  in  Captain  Isaac  Frye's  Company  of  the 
First  New  Hampshire  Regiment,  commanded  by  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Henry  Dearborn.  At  Newburgh,  N. 
Y.,  June  16,  1783,  he  was  transferred  to  the  Comman- 
der-in-Chief  s  Guard,  assigned  the  special  duty  of 
guarding  the  person  of  General  Washington  and  his 
personal  baggage  and  papers.  On  September  5th,  1783, 
Lieutenant  Bezaleel  Howe  was  detached  from  the  New 
Hampshire  Battalion  and  assigned  to  the  command  of 
the  Commander-in-Chief's  Guard.  In  November  of 
that  year  Washington  issued  the  following  letter  of  in 
structions  to  Captain  Howe  with  respect  to  the  delivery 
of  his  papers  and  baggage  at  his  home  at  Mount  Yer- 


348  REMINISCENCES 

non,  Virginia,  "to  deliver  the  baggage  at  nay  house,  ten 
miles  below  Alexandria.  As  you  know,  they  contain 
all  of  my  papers,  which  are  of  immense  value  to  me. 
I  am  sure  it  is  unnecessary  to  request  your  particular 
attention  to  them,  but  as  you  will  have  several  ferries 
to  pass,  some  of  them  wide,  particularly  the  Susque- 
hanna  and  Potomac,  I  must  caution  you  against 
crossing  these  if  the  wind  should  be  high  or  there  is, 
in  your  opinion  or  in  the  judgment  of  others,  the  least 
danger.  The  waggons  should  never  be  without  a  sen 
tinel  over  them,  always  locked,  and  the  keys  in  your 
possession."  Corporal  Holt  was  assigned  to  the  posi 
tion  of  wagon-master  to  his  excellency's  baggage.  The 
guard  was  composed  of  twelve  mounted  infantrymen, 
of  which  my  grandfather,  Ebenezer  C'oston,  then  only 
eighteen  years  of  age,  was  one.  After  the  return  of 
this  expedition  he  was  honorably  discharged  at  West 
Point,  K  Y.,  December  20th,  1783.  He  died  at  Ly- 
sander,  K  Y.,  February  17th,  1814.  These  facts 
about  my  grandfather's  military  career  are  taken  from 
Dr.  Godfrey's  History  of  the  Commander-in-Chief's 
Guard,  published  by  Stevenson-Smith  Company,  Wash 
ington,  D.  C.,  in  1904. 

My  mother  was  born  at  Greenfield,  N.  H.,  June  26, 
1786.  My  grandfather  removed  to  Litchfield,  Oneida 
county,  !N".  Y.,  some  time  before  1800 — I  am  unable  to 
give  the  exact  date — and  became  captain  of  a  militia 
company  located  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  Commander-in-Chief's  Guard  was  drilled  by 
Baron  Steuben  of  Revolutionary  fame.  He  was  said 
to  have  been  a  very  strict  drill-master,  a  martinet,  who 
had  received  his  military  education  under  the  rough 
and  rugged  discipline  of  Frederick  the  Great,  of 


RECAPITULATION  34:9 

Prussia.  I  have  heard  my  mother  say  that  the  mem 
bers  of  his  company  upon  drilling  days  would  come 
to  the  house  before  light  and  fire  of?  their  guns  to 
warn  him  of  the  impending  muster.  He  would  then 
set  out  for  them  a  jug  of  whiskey  with  which  to  keep 
themselves  warm  until  time  to  drill. 

It  was  the  custom  when  I  was  a  lad  for  militia  to 
have  training  days  during  the  summer  months,  and 
in  the  fall  of  the  year  to  have  a  general  training,  com 
posed  of  the  regiment.  Two  of  my  brothers,  Sidney 
Mills  and  Dan  Barnes,  were  captains  of  militia  com 
panies.  These  military  days  gradually  became  occa 
sions  of  drunken  rioting,  of  the  humorous  sort,  until 
they  were  finally  abolished  by  the  legislature,  some 
ten  years  or  more  before  the  civil  war.  The  officers  of 
the  companies  were  unable  to  control  their  men,  and 
training  day  was  nothing  more  than  a  time  of  drunken 
carousal.  It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  to  have 
wrestling  matches.  My  brother,  Barnes,  was  quite  an 
athlete  and  had  a  reputation  as  a  wrestler.  He  was 
nearly  six  feet  in  height,  of  athletic  build,  with  very 
piercing  black  eyes  and  straight  black  hair,  and  my 
mother  said  that  he  looked  very  much  like  her  father; 
I  think  he  was  a  favorite  with  her  on  account  of  that 
resemblance.  My  mother  frequently  told  me  that 
Goffe,  the  regicide,  was  my  ancestor,  which  I  believed, 
until  perhaps  twenty  years  ago.  In  reading  of  the 
three  regicides  who  fled  to  New  England,  I  found  that 
Goffe  never  brought  his  family  to  America ;  so  if  there 
is  any  of  GofiVs  blood  in  my  veins  it  comes  through 
the  blood  of  some  dusky  aborigine.  The  story  is  told 
that  during  an  attack  of  the  Indians  on  the  meeting 
house  while  church  service  was  being  held,  that  GofTe 


350  REMINISCENCES 

appeared  and  took  command  of  the  defense,  repulsed 
the  Indians  and  immediately  afterwards  disappeared. 
The  emisaries  of  Charles  the  Second  searched  for 
him  for  many  years,  that  he  might  be  carried  back  to 
England  and  beheaded, 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

IN    CONCLUSION. 

For  certain  reasons  I  desire  to  express  my  opinion  on 
religious  subjects,  in  order  that  I  may  not  be  misquoted 
or  misunderstood  in  the  future.  With  this  object  in 
view  I  introduce  the  subjects  herein  presented. 

Every  man  creates  a  God  of  his  own,  or  has  some 
one  create  a  God  for  him,  and  the  characteristics  of  his 
God  will  be  the  characteristics  of  his  own  nature.  The 
superstitions  of  man  incline  him  to  believe  in  some 
kind  of  deity.  It  is  natural  for  every  one  to  accept 
the  fact  of  a  Higher  Power  which  has  "created  the 
heavens  and  the  earth  and  all  that  in  them  is."  If 
we  knew  more  about  this  Being  it  might  be  better  for 
us;  however,  if  the  Creator  thought  it  well  for  us  to 
know  more  than  we  do,  it  was  within  His  power  to  have 
enlightened  us.  Man  by  his  intellect  has  discovered 
many  natural  laws,  the  recognition  of  which  has  made 
apparent  many  things  which  in  his  previous  ignorance 
and  superstition  he  had  believed  to  be  unnatural  and 
attributable  to  supernatural  causes.  «  ncroft  Library 

In  the  early  days  of  the  world,  monarchs  obtained 
their  right  to  rule  over  their  brothers  by  "divine  right," 
by  what  was  regarded  as  the  sanction  of  God,  delivered 
by  human  hands.  People  suffered  great  wrongs  and 
injustice  under  cruel  and  inhuman  rulers,  and  believed 
that  they  had  no  right  to  resist.  Human  slavery  was 
upheld  by  religion.  Probably  most  of  the  evils  which 

351 


352  REMINISCENCES 

have  seriously  affected  mankind  have  resulted  from 
the  teachings  of  some  religion  which  rendered  the  per 
son  believing  it  impervious  to  reason  or  argument. 
Gathered  from  the  ancient  Jewish  writings  of  law 
givers  and  prophets  is  a  compilation  known  as  the 
Bible.  In  this  is  given  a  circumstantial  account  of  the 
creation  of  the  world.  I  recollect  in  my  boyhood  days 
learning  a  piece  of  doggerel  which  ran  as  follows: 

"The  world  was  made  in  six  days,  and  finished  on  the 

seventh ; 
According  to  the  contract  it  should  have  been   the 

'leventh. 
The  carpenters  got  drunk,   and  the  masons  wouldn't 

work, 
And  the  quickest  way  to  finish  it  was  to  fill  it  up  with 

dirt." 

This  account  of  the  creation  is  as  circumstantial, 
reliable  and  truthful  as  the  one  given  in  Genesis.  There 
are  certain  books  in  the  Bible  giving  an  account  of  the 
lives  and  wanderings  of  the  descendants  of  Abraham. 
The  Jews  claim  to  be  the  beloved  of  God  in  preference 
to  any  other  tribes  or  races  of  men.  They  have  gen 
erally  been  a  very  unpopular  people,  though  many  of 
them  have  been  talented,  wise  and  of  remarkable  abil- 
ity. 

During  the  first  four  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
many  histories  were  written  concerning  Jesus  Christ, 
who  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  From  these  nu 
merous  writings  were  selected  those  which  form  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  these  added  to  the 
ancient  religious  and  historical  writings  of  the  Jews 
form  the  modern  Bible.  This  book  is  the  foundation 


IN  CONCLUSION  353 

of  most  of  the  religions  taught  in  civilized  countries 
today,  and  the  followers  believe  it  to  be — without  in 
vestigation  or  proof — inspired  by  God  Himself. 

Jesus  Christ  taught  His  disciples  and  mankind  gen 
erally  to  "love  one  another/'  and  to  "do  unto  others  as 
ye  would  have  others  do  to  you,"  yet  the  priests  of  this 
new  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  raised  themselves,  step  by 
step,  in  earthly  power  and  attempted  to  dominate  the 
world.  They  became  careless  of  His  precepts  and 
sought  for  pomp  and  glory,  and  employed  all  the  ad 
vantages  of  their  high  places  to  gain  power  and  con 
trol  over  their  fellow  men.  Eighteen  centuries  have 
followed  of  cruelty  and  crime,  done  in  the  name  of 
Christianity,  and  claimed  to  be  in  accordance  with  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  masses  of  the  believers 
in  the  Christian  religion  were  ignorant  and  unlearned, 
while  the  learned  among  them  grew  more  domineering 
and  crafty  in  order  that  they  might  enjoy  supreme 
earthly  power. 

One  purpose  of  most  religions  has  been  to  invent  a 
scheme  by  which  a  few  could  live  in  luxury  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  many.  It  has  been  the  object  and  pur 
pose  of  most  sects  to  force  great  numbers  of  persons 
into  their  belief  and  control  them  by  injustice  and 
cruelty.  Great  wrongs  have  been  inflicted  in  the  name 
of  religion,  and  the  severest  tortures  have  been  en 
dured  by  many  who  refuse  to  believe  in  some  particu 
lar  creed.  What  the  nature  of  God  is  no  man  knows. 
We  do  know,  however,  that  the  more  humane  and  in 
telligent  a  nation  is,  the  better  it  is  for  its  people.  The 
honest  beliefs  of  an  individual,  if  he  does  not  attempt 
to  force  them  upon  others,  and  if  he  advocates  only 
what  is  virtuous,  honest  and  merciful,  can  do  no 


354  REMINISCENCES 

serious  injury  and  must  tend  to  the  betterment  of  man 
kind.  What  the  future  has  in  store  for  us,  where  we 
are  to  go,  what  we  are  to  do  or  be,  is  entirely  unknown 
to  us.  Shakespeare  speaks  of  death  as : 

"That  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourne 
No  traveler  returns." 

So  far  it  has  been  idle  to  attempt  to  penetrate  the 
veil.  We  know  that  the  heavens  are  full  of  worlds 
and  planets,  that  they  are  of  area  so  vast  that  all  who 
have  dwelt  on  the  earth  from  its  dawn  to  the  present 
time  might  live  upon  them.  The  suggestive  mind  of 
man  can  easily  imagine  what  might  be  our  future,  but 
that  we  can  have  any  real  knowledge  upon  this  point 
is  not  at  all  probable.  The  intense  curiosity  of  man 
leads  him  to  conjecture  and  resolve  schemes  of  exist 
ence  which  he  tries  to  foist  upon  mankind  as  being  the 
will  and  purpose  of  the  Creator  Himself. 

I  remember  when  I  was  a  boy,  I  was  told  that  God 
kept  constant  care  over  me,  that  He  even  counted  the 
hairs  of  my  head,  and  that  He  kept  a  diary  in  which 
were  recorded  all  my  good  and  bad  acts;  all  my  good 
and  bad  thoughts;  and  at  that  time  I  was  not  very 
well  able  to  distinguish  the  good  from  the  bad. 

Faith  is  the  ability  to  believe  a  lie,  there  being  no 
evidence  to  prove  its  truth.  Somehow  I  appear  to 
lack  that  faculty.  I  always  desire  some  substantial 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  anything.  I  am  not  easily 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  things  which  I  cannot  see, 
hear,  or  prove  by  some  sort  of  reasoning,  especially  if 
the  things  themselves  appear  to  be  against  reason. 
Many  possess  the  faculty  of  faith,  but  believing  a 
thing  does  not  make  it  true,  for  believing  is  simply  a 


IN  CONCLUSION  355 

confession  of  ignorance.  We  may  believe  a  thing  is 
so  and  not  know  it  is  so.  Knowledge  is  very  different 
from  belief;  one  must  have  evidence  to  substantiate 
knowledge,  but  belief  is  simply  an  opinion.  Belief  18 
something  like  seeing  an  alkali  flat  in  a  desert  and 
thinking  that  it  is  a  lake. 

Religious  beliefs  are  usually  more  prevalent  among 
the  unlearned  than  among  the  educated  classes  of  hu 
manity.  Every  creed  which  is  not  founded  on  the  dog 
mas  which  teach  immortality  of  the  soul  and  everlast 
ing  rewards  and  punishments,  is  unsuccessful.  Such 
dogmas  were  unknown  to  the  Jews,  therefore  Judaism^ 
far  from  being  supported  by  Providence,  was  an  un 
successful  doctrine.  It  is  necessary  for  a  religion  to 
take  hold  on  the  minds  of  the  followers  so  they  will 
have  a  hope  of  reward  and  a  fear  of  punishment  con 
stantly  before  their  mental  vision. 

I  recollect,  when  a  boy,  of  living  a  short  time  with  a 
family  in  which  there  was  an  aged  and  infirm  gentle 
man,  who  made  agonizing  prayers  and  appeals,  twice 
daily,  to  his  Presbyterian  God.  He  impressed  me  as 
one  having  an  intense  fear  of  death.  He  would  ac 
cuse  himself  of  being  a  terrible  sinner,  unworthy  of 
any  consideration  by  his  Maker,  and  would  implore  in 
a  most  pathetic  manner,  forgiveness  for  wrongdoing. 
In  my  youthful  imagination  I  used  to  wonder  what  the 
terrible  crimes  might  have  been  of  which  he  had  been 
guilty.  He  was  a  deacon  in  the  Presbyterian  church, 
a  polite  and  lovable  man,  respected  by  everyone  who 
knew  him,  yet  the  fear  with  which  he  regarded  death, 
was  appalling. 

The  child's  faith  in  the  fiction  told  it  by  grown-up 
people,  of  the  rabbits  which  lay  painted  eggs,  for  which 


356  REMINISCENCES 

they  search  Easter  morning,  is  about  equal  to  the  faith 
of  their  elders  in  the  dogmas  of  their  religion,  which 
has  no  more  foundation  for  its  assumption  than  the 
other. 

The  clergy  has  a  great  influence  on  the  mind  of  the 
public,  and  it  is  not  always  exercised  with  wisdom.  It 
was  the  excitable  sentiments  uttered  from  the  pulpits 
of  the  north  against  the  south,  and  in  the  southern 
churches  against  the  north  which  engendered  an  ani 
mosity,  culminating  in  one  of  the  most  terrible  and 
bloody  wars  of  modern  times.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
result  of  this  fearful  cost  will  be  of  benefit  to  those  for 
whom  it  was  fought.  The  negro  of  today  is  a  different 
creature  from  the  slave  of  1860.  At  that  time  he  was 
generally  a  docile  and  kind-hearted  attendant  to  his 
master.  After  the  close  of  the  war  the  clergy  again  led 
northern  public  sentiment  into  the  foolish  step  of  de 
manding  franchise  for  the  slave  class,  holding  that  polit 
ical  equality  with  the  whites  would  serve  as  a  protec 
tion  for  the  weaker.  This  was  granted  and  served  as 
a  menace  to  one-third  of  our  country  ever  since,  and 
with  all  the  loss  to  our  own  people  it  did  not  help  or 
satisfy  the  negroes,  whose  master  ambition  is  for  social 
equality  rather  than  political,  or  commercial.  But  the 
white  can  not  concede  this  if  he  would,  as  necessarily  it 
means  the  lowering  of  the  white  to  the  level  of  the 
negro,  who  is  disqualified  from  meeting  the  higher 
conditions. 

It  is  quite  probable  that  the  next  part  of  the  country 
to  suffer  from  this  folly  and  egotism  of  the  negro  will 
be  the  north ;  the  freedom  and  latitude  given  the  blacks 
will  eventually  meet  a  rebuff  in  some  form  of  bitter 
war  of  the  races.  Again  the  clergy,  as  leaders  of  public 


IN  CONCLUSION  «     357 

sentiment,  will  be  heavily  responsible,  and  it  is  likely 
that  the  curses  will  come  home  to  roost  which  have  been 
uttered  against  the  south,  whose  experience  of  three 
centuries  with  the  negro  makes  it  better  fitted  to  meet 
the  problem,  than  any  other. 

The  motives  of  the  clergy  in  all  of  these  mistakes  may 
be  of  the  purest  kind,  but  their  pursuits  and  occupations 
disqualify  them  from  understanding  such  drastic  meas 
ures  as  are  required  in  certain  extremes  of  business  and 
politics. 

When  at  times  I  realize  some  of  the  ignorance  ex 
pressing  itself  everywhere  about  us,  I  am  impressed 
with  the  thought  of  what  a  terrible  state  of  ignorance 
there  must  have  been  in  the  period  following  the  crea 
tion.  The  first  thunder  storm,  or  earthquake;  the  first 
sight  of  birth  or  death,  without  the  knowledge  that  it 
must  be  borne  by  millions  of  others ;  not  even  to  know 
the  reason  why  the  sun  rose  or  set!  As  man  becomes 
more  intelligent,  his  ignorance  in  a  measure  disappears. 
It  may  be  for  the  benefit  of  the  human  being  that 
theories  are  constructed  with  regard  to  future  existence, 
of  which  he  can  know  nothing,  but  in  my  opinion  it  is 
a  doubtful  exercise  of  the  imagination. 

I  believe  the  Deity  to  be  the  concentration  of  All- 
Knowledge.  He  is  the  acme  of  all  mechanism.  The 
construction,  organization  and  individuality  of  the  hu 
man  structure  is  so  marvelous  that  the  mind  is  para 
lyzed  in  its  efforts  to  comprehend  it;  and  the  mortal 
mind  approaches  the  Creator  the  nearest  when  it  excels 
in  the  construction,  invention  and  operation  of  applied 
mechanics.  I  have  never  been  so  happy  in  any  pursuit 
as  when  I  was  building  a  mill,  and  contriving  to  make 
all  the  parts  work  together. 


358  BEMINISCENCES 

I  believe  that  God  is  omniscient  but  not  necessarily 
omnipresent  In  the  construction  of  a  mechanical  in 
vention,  its  highest  perfection  would  be  proved  by  its 
ability  to  work  on  without  supervision. 

It  is  self  evident  that  the  Deity  has  given  us  no 
knowledge  of  Himself  or  of  His  purposes,  only  such  as 
we  are  able  to  read  from  the  laws  of  Nature,  but  we 
see  that  the  human  body  partakes  of  food,  in  that 
manner  supplying  its  own  materials  to  maintain  exist 
ence  until  the  organism  wears  out  through  an  over  stren 
uous  life  or  from  the  decay  of  old  age. 

Man  comes  into  the  world  against  his  wish,  and  he 
departs  from  it  in  the  same  way.  Today  he  is  and  to 
morrow  he  is  not.  Why  he  comes  and  why  he  goes,  are 
equal  mysteries;  however,  death  has  no  sting,  but  such 
as  we  give  it 


